Someone
by breatheactsing123
Summary: "You and Rory deserve someone special. Someone really good for you."
1. Chapter 1

Luke has just made his way behind the counter after flipping the sign on the diner door to "closed" when he heard a light rapping of knuckles on the glass pane. He looked up, starting to reiterate the sign's message, when he saw Rory Gilmore, and she did not look happy. He rushed to the door and opened it right away. Before Luke could even get a word in, Rory started spouting apologies rapid fire.

"Luke, I'm really sorry because I know you're closed and you shouldn't keep the diner open for just me but I didn't know where to go and I saw the diner first-"

"Hey, hey, hey, calm down. I'm always open for the Gilmore girls. What's wrong?"

"Dean and I got into a fight. I won't bother you with the details. I would have just gone home but Mom is having a night in with Max-"

Luke's jaw tightened at the mention of Max. How great of a guy could he possibly be if Rory didn't even want to be in the house at the same time that he was? He tuned back into the real world and saw Rory shivering. No surprise, she was wearing some sort of tank-top dress and it was freezing now that the sun had gone down.

"You cold?" Luke asked, reaching for a flannel he had hung in the kitchen.

"No, Luke, really, I'm fine-"

"Don't be ridiculous. Here." He said, extending his arm to her. When she extended hers back, that's when he saw it. The big, angry, red, grip-shaped bruise that took up most of her forearm. He grabbed her wrist lightly, careful to avoid the bruise. Rory gasped.

"Rory. What is that?" Luke asked, already knowing his answer and trying not to let the rage seep through into his voice.

"It's nothing," she says, trying to pull away, but Luke was unrelenting. "We were spinning around like that scene in Titanic, and he just gripped a little too hard I guess."

"Then why's the bruise only on one arm? I might not be a Harvard man but I know what this is about, Rory."

"It was an accident, I swear. We were fighting and I tried to just go away and he grabbed me because he didn't want me to go. That's all it was."

Luke was about to respond when they heard an angry banging on the glass.

"Rory? Rory, I know you're in there. Come out here right now. This conversation isn't over."

Rory took a deep breath and stood up to go, and Luke stepped in front of her.

"Absolutely not young lady. You sit down for right now." Luke made his way to the door, stepping in between it and Dean.

"Go home right now, before I do something I'll regret."

"I'm waiting for Rory."

"Rory's not coming. Go."

"Make me, old man."

Luke wanted nothing more than to knock the kid's lights out and be done with it, but he figured the last thing Rory needed now was more violence. He slipped back into the diner and locked the door, closing all the blinds so Dean couldn't see in. As he turned around, the banging on the glass resumed.

"Rory? Rory, come back out here so we can finish what we started."

Rory, now wearing the flannel over her dress, looked at Luke, her eyes begging for him to provide her with safety or comfort. He gestured for her to come behind the counter, and then he wrapped his arms around her, allowing her to bury her face into his chest.

"Sit, he whispered, and they say on the ground behind the counter, Luke rubbing Rory's back as she tried to calm down through all the noise.

"Rory, come out here right now you bitch!" Dean bellowed.

Luke's jaw tightened so quickly and forcefully that he thought it might break. He stopped rubbing Rory's back.

"He doesn't mean it, he's just mad." Rory whispered.

"It doesn't matter." Luke responded dryly. He wanted to kill the kid, but he knew he couldn't. He also knew what was coming. Just as he expected, Luke heard Taylor's voice coming out from the market.

"Dean, scat! You go home right now before I call the police and have you-"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever old man. I'm going, I'm going."

After a few minutes, the town returned to quiet, and Luke and Rory both let out a breath they didn't know that they were holding.

"Looks like Taylor saved the day," Luke remarked.

"Thank you, Luke."

"Rory, what would've happened if I wasn't here?"

"We just would've talked, I guess."

"He didn't seem in much of a talking mood." Luke said, trying to keep his tone relaxed and calm.

"I know this looks bad but it really isn't what you think it is. He loves me Luke, he really does."

"That doesn't mean he deserves you."

"Luke, he's great. I promise. This is just a big fight that'll blow over.

"If anything like this ever happens again, you come here or you call me, okay?"

"Luke, this isn't going to-"

"Promise me. Just promise me."

"I promise." Rory resigned.

"Come on, I'll drive you home."

"Oh Luke, you really don't have to do that, I can walk-"

"Get in the car. I want to see you get home safe."

Rory followed him to the car and they drove.

"Listen, Rory. I need you to tell your mom about what happened tonight."

"What? Luke, why? I told you this was no big deal."

"If it's really no big deal, you shouldn't have an issue telling the woman you tell everything in the world to. Ror, if you don't tell her, I have to."

"Why?"

"Because if you were my kid and somebody didn't tell me about something like this I would kill them. Your mom needs to know okay?"

"Okay." Rory said, though she was none too pleased about the situation.

"Thank you." Luke said, pulling into her driveway. "Looks like Max is gone."

"Yeah, it does."

"I'll see you tomorrow?"

"I'll be the one in the Chilton uniform."

"Goodnight, kid."

"Goodnight, Luke."


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning, Luke noticed right away when Rory and Lorelai walked in. Lorelai looked really nice, not that that was out of the ordinary. Lorelai walked up to the counter and Rory took a seat at their normal table.

"Is that a new blouse?"

"Luke Danes, did you just notice that I was wearing a new blouse? And did you actually use the word blouse to describe it?"

"Forget I said anything." He teased, looking down at the area of the counter he was scrubbing.

"Hey, thank you for driving Rory home last night. I really appreciate it." Lorelai said, placing a hand on Luke's upper arm.

"Anything for that kid. You know that. I take it you two talked last night?"

"Yeah. Thanks for not killing Dean. I don't know who would've made my coffee if you went to jail."

"So… What are you going to do?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're not going to let her keep seeing the kid, right?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Lorelai, you can't be serious. She came home last night with bruises after he nearly broke my door down screaming that she was a bitch, and you're going to pretend like nothing happened?"

"Luke, I trust Rory. She said it was a fluke thing and that it isn't going to happen again. If that's what she says, I believe her. If I tell her she can't see him she'll just sneak around, and that's even worse. Not to mention, I don't need your input on how to raise my kid."

"You're right, I overstepped. I'm sorry."

Lorelai walked away and sat down without saying a word. Luke let out a breath and looked up at the ceiling. He hated fighting with Lorelai. The bickering he didn't mind. That kind of banter was actually really cute, not that he'd ever admit it. But this wasn't casual, flirty banter. This was a fight. And as much as he wanted to be able to just secede to Lorelai, he couldn't help but feel that he was right on this one. But he had to let that go. Rory was Lorelai's little girl, not his. Although he'd give anything for either of them, it wasn't his job to decide how Lorelai raised Rory, and he knew that. It just sucked. Sighing again, Luke went back to scrubbing the same spot of counter he'd just cleaned 5 minutes ago.

* * *

Later that afternoon, Rory walked in, followed by Max Medina, Lorelai's fiancé. Luke took a moment to swallow his pride before he went to take their order. Max made Lorelai happy. Luke liked to see Lorelai happy. Before Luke could head to their table, Max walked right up to him.

"Lucas, right?"

"Luke is fine."

"Max Medina," he said, extending his hand, which Luke shook. "Lorelai's fiancé." He added for good measure. "Lorelai told me about what happened with Rory the other night." Luke didn't like the sound of their names coming out of his mouth. "Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you. I had a feeling something was up with Rory and I'm glad she had someone to go to."

Luke's jaw tightened. "What do you mean you had a feeling?" He asked a little pointedly, although it seemed to go unnoticed by Max.

"Well, you know, the Gilmore girls aren't exactly an athletic duo, so I figured most of the bruises couldn't be from playing volleyball like she claimed. She hasn't been as active in class discussions, which is unlike her. Just some stuff that seemed off."

"How long has this been going on? How long has she been coming into school bruised?" He said, trying to keep quiet and calm to avoid letting the whole diner know about the altercation.

"Two months, I'd say, maybe a little shy of it."

"You've known that some punk has been hitting Rory for two months and you didn't say anything to Lorelai? Or to anyone?" Max was keenly aware of Luke's anger now, as it seemingly seethed out of his every pore.

"I didn't have any proof. I can't just run around making accusations willy-nilly." He said firmly.

"You don't need an accusation to bring something to Lorelai's attention, right?"

"Listen, Luke. I think you're blowing this out of proportion. Boys will be boys, right? Not to mention I'm sure Rory's smart enough to get out of any situation that she doesn't want to be in."

"Go. I think it's time that you go," Luke said, knowing that if he stayed much longer he'd lose his control and punch the guy.

"Rory, why don't we walk around a little bit before we meet your mother? Get some fresh air." Max said as he walked back towards Rory.

Rory, who was sitting at a table away from the counter and had missed this whole conversation due to the book she'd planted her nose in, looked up.

"Uh, I actually think I'll stay here and do some studying. I'll meet you at the inn later."

Max was a little stunned at her refusal to leave, but let her be, and left the diner in a huff. Rory moved her stuff to sit at the counter in front of Luke, who gave her a long, hard look.

"I just.. Uh… Thought I should sit at the counter, where I'm only one person. Don't really need a whole table to myself."

"Do you want to go upstairs to study? I've got a desk up there and it's pretty loud down here. Would give you a bit more peace and quiet."

"I… Uh…"

"Come on, Luke said, leading her upstairs. Luke opened the door to his apartment and let her walk in, then following her and shutting the door behind him.

"Where's your backpack?"

"It's in Max's car."

"Oh, sorry. Do you need to-"

"I didn't actually need to study anything."

"Oh… Then why-"

"I just didn't want to go with Max."

"Oh." Luke said, finally realizing.

"Not that Max is a bad guy or anything, he makes my mom happy, and-"

"Hey, you don't have to defend your opinion like that to me, I'm not going to be offended." He smirked at her. "So do you like the guy?"

"You know, he makes my mom really happy and I think that's great-"

"That's not what I asked. I asked if _you_ like him."

"Well… I think I'm just adjusting to it. He's my English teacher after all… Sometimes it's hard to sort of switch my mind around and see him as not my teacher."

"Rory… Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah," Rory said, trepidation evident in her voice.

"When you came to the diner the other night… Was that the first time something like that has happened between you and Dean?"

"It was the first time he followed me. Normally I run and he cools down and it's fine. But no, it's not the first time if you're asking about what I think you're asking about." Rory answered, unable to even look at Luke.

"Oh, Rory." Luke said, feeling his heart break."How long?"

"A few months. It's pretty recent."

"Rory, you've been letting this guy hit you for two months?" He said, more angry with himself for not noticing than he was disappointed in her.

"It's not like that, okay? Dean is a great boyfriend. Everyone in town knows how much Dean loves me. So he made a few mistakes. That's life, right? You're supposed to love your boyfriend through their mistakes, right?"

"Forgetting an anniversary is a mistake. Accidentally trying to feed a Gilmore girl salad is a mistake. Hitting a woman is more than a mistake," Luke said.

Rory didn't say anything. She knew Luke was right and she hated herself for it.

"What if nobody else ever loves me like Dean loves me?"

"I'd say you could count yourself lucky. Look at the way Dean is loving you _right now._ Not the way he loved you 6 months ago, not the way the town thinks he loves you. The way he is actually loving you. God Rory, I hope no one else ever loves you like that. Someone will love you better than that. A million times better than that, and it will still only be half of what you deserve."

Rory smiled a little, though Luke could tell she was still deeply hurt.

"Luke, what am I going to do?" Rory asked, truly searching for answers.

"The first thing you need to do is tell your mom. Tell her everything you can. If it's too hard to tell her all at once, do it in pieces, but she needs to know what's been going on."

"And then what? Dean isn't going to just give up this easy. He loves me. Or I guess he thinks he loves me. I don't know, it doesn't feel like I know anything anymore." Rory ranted, growing more upset.

"Hey, hey, hey. You're a smart kid, Ror. They don't accept kids to Chilton on a fluke. This situation would be hard for anyone to navigate. Why don't you call your mom and tell her you're not feeling well and that I'm going to drive you home. You can relax for a little while and then when your mom gets home you can talk.

"Okay. Thanks, Luke."

"Anything for you, kid."


	3. Chapter 3

Lorelai sat on the edge of her bed looking at her feet. How could she not have noticed that someone was hurting her daughter, the most important thing to her, her whole world? Thank God they had Luke in their lives. Her mind rushed around in anxious circles. Her mother was right. She never should have left the house so young. She wasn't mature enough to handle a child. She was interrupted from her reverie when she heard her bedroom door swing open, and Max walked in. He could see in her face that something was going on.

"What's wrong?" he asked, sitting next to her and putting her hands in his.

"Rory just told me that her boyfriend has been-"

"Oh, so she ended up telling you everything." Max said, not even letting Lorelai finish her sentence.

"Wait, she told you? How did you know what I was going to say?"

"Well, she didn't exactly tell me per se, but I had my suspicions."

"You _knew?"_ Lorelai asked, anger rising inside of her.

"No, I had suspicions." Max stated matter-of-factly. "I didn't know anything."

"How long." Lorelai asked, unable to even look at him. "How long have you had _suspicions."_ she said, spitting out the last word.

Max sighed. "Two months."

Lorelai shot up, turning to look at him. Now, he was looking at the floor. "Two months! You thought that my daughter was being hurt for two whole months and you said nothing? You did nothing? How could you, Max? Don't you care about her at all?"

"Lorelai, you're being ridiculous!" he stood up. "Of course I care about Rory."

"Ridiculous? You hide something like this from me and I'm being ridiculous?"

"I wasn't hiding anything."

"Get out, Max. Take your ring and go." she said, throwing the engagement ring he'd given her in his direction. "Don't come back. I can't marry someone who would be so careless with the life of my daughter."

"Lorelai-"

"Go."

Max left, clearly feeling defeated, and Lorelai sat back down on the bed. She took a long moment to collect herself, and walked down to Rory's bedroom, cracking the door open.

"Can I come in?" Lorelai asked.

"Yeah." Rory said, and Lorelai swung the door open. "You broke up with Max for me." Rory said, looking up at her mother from where she was sitting, cross-legged on her bed.

"A situation involving you made me realize that Max wasn't someone I could marry." Lorelai corrected, sitting next to her daughter.

"Are you sad?"

"I'm sad that I let myself get so involved with someone not realizing how bad they were for you."

"Mom, Max wasn't bad for me."

"He didn't want to be bad for you, baby, but he didn't know how to be good for you. You are the most important person in my life. You are the best thing that has ever, will ever happen to me. You know that?"

"Yeah," Rory answered.

"I'm sorry that all of this is happening to you." Lorelai said.

"I'm sorry too."

"Do you want me to make you a cup of coffee?"

"Can we go to Luke's?"

"His is better." They said in unison, and then they smiled a little.

"You go put on some shoes while I grab my coat," Lorelai smiled, kissing her daughter on the forehead before she got up.


	4. Chapter 4

When Lorelai walked into the diner, she was lucky enough to make eye contact with Luke right away. She glanced towards the stockroom, her eyes subtly telling him to meet her there.

"Rory, you go ahead and sit down, I'm going to run to the bathroom real quick," she said, walking into the room she'd just watched Luke disappear into before giving Rory a chance to answer. She walked into the stockroom and directly into Luke's arms, embracing him in a hug. Luke was a little surprised, but he returned the hug after a second.

"I take it she told you." Luke said, rubbing her back comfortingly.

"Yeah, she did." Lorelai said sadly. "How could I be so stupid? God-"

"Hey, let's get one thing straight. Neither of you is stupid. Caffeine addicted? Definitely. Clogging your arteries daily? Absolutely. Annoying? Well, that's more you than Rory, but-"

"Okay, Okay I get it!" Lorelai laughed, and Luke smiled, seeing a bit of the carefree attitude he loved in Lorelai returning to her face. After a moment, she again turned somber. "Uh, Luke… There's something else."

"What is it?"

"I broke off my engagement with Max. We're not together anymore. This whole time he knew what Dean was doing to Rory and not once did it even cross his mind to bring it up to me. I can't believe I ever saw anything in him."

" _Thank God."_ Luke thought, for more reason than one. "I'm sorry Lorelai," he said. "I know you really liked the guy. For what it's worth, I think you're right to have broken up with him. If he couldn't see how important Rory was to you he can't have been that attentive at all. You and Rory deserve someone special. Someone really good for you."

"Yeah, we do." Lorelai said shyly. "I've got to get back to Rory, I just told her I'd be in the bathroom." Lorelai said before walking back to their table.

"Caesar brought us coffee while you were talking to Luke." Rory said as Lorelai sat down.

"I was not talking to Luke," Lorelai stuttered out.

"Okay, Mom." Rory acquiesced. "What'd you tell him?"

"I just told him about Max." She said, looking down at her coffee.

"Do you regret it?"

"Not at all. But it's still a little sad. I'm not ready to tell everyone, but I needed to tell someone."

"And Luke was your someone?

"Yeah. Luke is my someone."


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Sorry about the formatting issue if you happened to read this chapter right as it went up! I'm republishing the same chapter now, hopefully it will be formatted correctly.

Luke scrubbed a table after the diner had emptied from the lunch rush. It was 3pm now, and the diner was in a lull, but soon enough the dinner rush would start and he'd be lucky to have time to reset the silverware in between customers, let alone give the tables a good cleaning. As he stood up, a familiar head of brown hair caught his eye off in the distance through the window. He squinted a little bit and realized that it was Rory, not Lorelai. That made sense, Luke thought to himself as he went to work on another table. Dean normally waited at the bus stop for her and they walked around before she met up with her mother for their afternoon coffee. Luke's eyes widened for a moment. She wasn't seriously with Dean, was she? He looked out the window again, and the conversation that just a moment ago had been completely pleasant had decidedly taken a turn for the worst. There they stood in the center of town, Dean's hands wrapped around Rory's arms, making it impossible for her to move as she struggled to create distance between the two of them. He dropped his towel and ran out of the diner without saying a word to Caesar or anyone else inside.

"You take your hands off of her!" Luke yelled, crossing the town square in an instant, although not soon enough to catch Rory, who Dean threw to the ground. Luke, now even more provoked than he had been, pulled his fist back and felt it connect with Dean's face before he even thought anything better of it. "Don't you ever touch her again. I never want to see your face anywhere near her, ever again." Luke said, leaning in close to Dean, who was now laying on the ground, his hand covering his injured face. Luke then rushed over to Rory.

"I'm okay, I'm good." Rory said before Luke could get a word in edgewise. "I'm totally fine. Everything's fine." She tried to get up, but her ankle wouldn't hold her weight. "Okay, other than that I'm totally good." Rory said, unable to look at Luke.

"I'm going to pick you up," Luke looked at her and said.

"Luke don't be ridiculous, I'm totally-" Rory was in the air before she could finish her sentence. Luke carefully brought her over to the car and sat her in the passenger seat. "Where are we going?" She asked.

"The hospital." He said.

"Luke, I don't need surgery, I need an ace bandage." She called out as Luke shut the passenger door and walked around to climb into the driver's seat.

"Rory, this isn't up for discussion. You hit the ground hard, and your ankle is swollen like a softball. One of us needs to call your mom. Do you want to do it or do you want me to do it?" Luke asked as he pulled out of the center of Stars Hollow.

"Can you do it?" She asked, her voice suddenly softer.

"Yeah," he said more slowly, pulling his cell phone out of his pocket and dialing the phone number for the inn.

"Independence Inn, Michel speaking?" droned a french accent.

"Can I speak to Lorelai Gilmore please?"

"Ms. Gilmore is about to leave for the day. Is this call business or personal?"

"Personal. It's important." Luke answered, and he could practically hear Michel roll his eyes.

"One moment please," Michel said before the phone was transferred to Lorelai.

"Independence inn, Lorelai speaking?"

"Hey, it's me."

"Luke?" Lorelai asked, confused. "What's going on?"

"Uh, are you sitting down?"

"I am now, tell me what's wrong." Lorelai said anxiously.

"I'm taking Rory to the hospital. She took a pretty bad fall and her ankle is swollen, I think she needs to be checked out."

"Oh my God." Lorelai said, her voice shaking. "Was it-"

"Yeah." Luke answered.

"I'm headed there now, but the traffic going in from this direction is going to be awful."

"That's fine, Lorelai, don't get in an accident on your way."

"It might get me there quicker,"

"You'd have to stay longer."

"Oh, true." Lorelai said. "Take care of her. She's the only baby I've got," Lorelai pleaded.

"I always take good care of the Gilmore girls."


	6. Chapter 6

"How's your ankle?" Luke asked after hanging up with Lorelai.

"Fine, I guess." Rory said.

"Rory, can I ask you something?"

"I probably owe you at least that."

"You don't owe me anything. But I'm still going to ask. Why were you with him?"

"I was breaking up with him. I felt that after everything we'd been through together, he deserved at least that. I thought that if I did it in public he'd be less likely to lash out. I don't know what I was thinking, it was stupid."

"Hey, I'm banning that word from your vocabulary, and from your mother's too. You're a Chilton girl, surely you can think of a better word."

"Sure. There's idiotic, imbecilic, foolish-"

"Hey, hey hey, I was thinking more like "misinformed, confused, naive."

Rory just yawned in response, curling up to the window of the car and shutting her eyes.

"Don't go to sleep." Luke said.

"Why?"

"Because you hit your head when you fell and it's not good to go to sleep on a concussion."

"Luuuke."

"Sorry kid, I don't make the rules."

Rory moved her hand to turn the radio on, and Luke promptly smacked it away.

"Do you really think that loud music is better for your head than a nap? Besides, there's nothing in the CD player."

"Topic of conversation."

"What?"

"Give me a topic of conversation."

"School."

"No, Luke. It's supposed to be interesting. Like, 'If you had the remote, would you have stayed in Pleasantville with Jennifer or would you have left like Spiderman did?"

"How come you call Tobey MaGuire Spiderman but Reese Witherspoon is still Jennifer? You don't call her Elle Woods?"

"You know who Reese Witherspoon is? And you've seen Legally Blonde?"

"I saw the commercials."

"Well, anyway. Topic of Conversation."

"School."

"You're no fun. School is good. Calculus is hard but Paris is helping me. I like physics. History is whatever. I don't love it but I have an A so I can't exactly hate it. I'm taking my art gen-ed this semester with a piano class which isn't too hard but I think boys have an unfair advantage because their hands are bigger so they can reach the keys better. And Max Medina is still my English teacher."

"Is that awkward? Max being your english teacher?"

"I mean, yes and no. English is my favorite subject, and Max and I are still comfortable enough around each other that I can talk to him about my essays and stuff after class. It's just when stuff like "see you at home" slips out that it gets awkward."

"You're still calling him Max," Luke pointed out.

"I guess he's not the only guilty one."

"Looks like we're here." Luke said, pulling right up to the curb where a nurse happened to be waiting with a wheelchair.

"Well this isn't for you, but I think you need it more," the nurse said after catching a peek at Rory's ankle. Luke thanked her and wheeled Rory up to the nurse's station.

"Full name please," The nurse said to Rory.

"Lorelai Leigh Gilmore"

"What seems to be the problem today Lorelai?"

"Uh, you can call me Rory. I took a bad fall."

"Anything broken?"

"Isn't that for you to find out?" Luke asked the nurse, growing anxious to be in the waiting room. He hated hospitals.

"Anything broken, Lorelai?" She asked Rory again, clearly unamused by Luke.

"My ankle hurts pretty bad." Rory admitted.

"Any other complaints?"

"My head hurts and I'm feeling pretty tired."

"Alright, let's get you checked out." the nurse said, recruiting the help of a few other nearby staff members to get Rory into a stretcher. The nurse began to push Rory and then turned back to look at Luke. "Family members only past this point."

Rory and Luke both looked at each other nervously, unsure of what to do. After a short moment, Rory burst out.

"He's my dad." She said with enough conviction to make it just-barely believable.

"Alright then, let's go Mr. Gilmore."


	7. Chapter 7

Luke and Rory sat in an examination room, waiting for a doctor to come look at Rory's ankle. Rory was laying on the table, her ankle elevated by a few pillows. Luke stood against a wall, rolling back and forth from his heels to his toes anxiously. Not a moment too soon, a reassuring presence in a lab coat emerged through the doorway.

"Hello there, I'm Dr. Kent, I'm just here to take a peek at Lorelai's ankle," He announced. He crossed the room to shake Luke's hand. "You must be Dad," He assumed. Luke nodded.

"Alright, Lorelai, this might hurt a bit." Dr. Kent warned her before he gingerly picked up Rory's ankle. Luke heard Rory's hiss of pain and moved to comfort her, putting her hand in his. She looked up at him, confused momentarily.

"Squeeze." He told her, and Dr. Kent went back to his examination.

"Okay, I'm pretty sure that's a severe sprain but we'll get an X-ray just to be certain it's not a break. You'll need a CT as well for your head." The doctor explained to Rory as he reached into a cabinet above her. "Change into this," he said, handing her a hospital gown. "I'm going to go put the order in for your scans.

"I'll give you some privacy," Luke told Rory, following the doctor outside of the room. He stood outside the door, trying to forget that he was in a hospital when he heard the rapid click-clacking of heels on tile and a familiar voice calling his name.

"Luke!" Lorelai called, running up to him. Before he could stop her, she had thrown her arms around him and buried her face into her chest.

"Is she okay? Please let her be okay. God, please I need her to be okay."

"Lorelai, Lorelai. She's got a sprained ankle and they're checking her for a head injury. She's going to be fine," he assured her.

Lorelai looked at Luke for a moment and then found herself kissing him, surprising both her and Luke. She pulled away and looked at him again, both of them more surprised this time. Before either of them could say anything, the door swung open to reveal Rory, awkwardly balanced on one leg.

"Mom?" She asked, looking the wrong direction down the hallway. "Mommy!" She called when she found her, hopping over to her mother.

"Rory!" Lorelai said, embracing her daughter. "You definitely should not be out of bed right now. Quick, get back in before they kick me out for being a bad influence."

Rather than letting Rory awkwardly hobble back into bed, Luke picked her up again and Lorelai opened the door for them. Luke placed Rory in the bed and returned to his spot against the wall.

"Baby, what happened to you today?" Lorelai asked, putting her hands on either side of her daughter's face and smoothing out her hair.

"I was breaking up with him, Mom. I thought that if we were in public he'd be able to control his temper. It felt wrong to break up with him over the phone. He was a really good guy, Mom."

"Until he wasn't, sweetheart. Look at me." Rory looked up at her mother. "I am so, so, so upset this happened to you. I would never wish this on anyone. But it happened to you. So let's think about what we learned here, okay? We learned that just because a guy used to be awesome, doesn't mean we need to stay with him, okay? What else did we learn?"

"Um, if you need somebody punched out, go to Luke."

"You punched Dean?" Lorelai asked.

"It might have happened." Luke answered.

"Remind me to compare notes later."

" _You_ punched Dean?" Rory asked.

"No, I've just been imagining what it might feel like for the past week."

"Pretty satisfying." Luke confirmed.

The door swung open, revealing a nurse. "Lorelai?" the nurse asked.

"Yes," Both women answered.

"Um, the one of you that needs an X-Ray." The nurse said, clearly confused.

"That would be me. You can call me Rory. It'll probably be easier that way."

"Beginning to rethink this whole "naming-you-after-me" thing. Why didn't you warn me about this?" Lorelai sarcastically asked her daughter.

"I think I was too busy studying for my APGAR test."

"Well, that's my girl."

"You two are crazy," both Luke and the nurse said.

"Uh, anyway." The nurse continued. "I'm going to take Rory in for her X-Ray now. One of you can go in with her, and I need the other one of you to head to the nurse's station with your insurance information.

Luke and Lorelai shared a quick glance. "I'll stay with her," Luke told Lorelai. "Go ahead. It'll be quick." He told her, squeezing her hand for support.

"Okay… Don't get into any trouble while I'm gone," Lorelai said, kissing Rory on the forehead, clearly hesitant to leave her daughter, but knowing she was in good hands. "I'll be right back," she said before turning around and walking back to the nurse's station where she'd walked in.


	8. Chapter 8

Walking towards the nurse's station gave Lorelai a moment to think. She had kissed Luke. Had he kissed her back? She couldn't remember. His hands were definitely on her waist. Remembering that gave her goosebumps. So why couldn't she remember if he kissed her back? She pushed the thoughts out of her mind for a moment to focus on filling out the paperwork the nurse had handed to her. When she handed it back, the nurse who had taken Rory in for her X-Ray appeared from the doors leading to the exam rooms.

"Lorelai Gilmore," He called, and she walked over to him. "So it looks like the ankle is just a bad sprain. We'll give her some crutches and a compression bandage. We're heading into her CT now if you'd like to come."

"Yes, of course." Lorelai said, following the nurse down a complex pattern of corridors, where they eventually saw Rory in her stretcher and Luke standing next to her.

"It's not broken, Mom!" Rory called out.

"I heard!" Lorelai responded with equal enthusiasm, kissing her daughter on the forehead. "You're going to need to use crutches though, which is pretty funny considering you're pretty klutzy on your regular, uninjured feet."

"Picking on me before I've even made it out of the hospital? You're a cruel woman."

"Yeah, well, I carried you in my stomach for nine months, so I get to be."

"Mrs. Gilmore, We're ready to start the CT scan. Only one of you can go in," He told them, looking at Luke.

"You go ahead," Luke said.

"We need to prep her, I'll come back out and let you know when to come in." The nurse said, looking at Lorelai before he pushed Rory into the exam room.

"Why is he calling me Mrs. Gilmore?" Lorelai asked Luke in a hushed tone.

"Rory told the hospital that I was her dad because they told her it was family members only outside of the waiting room."

"Ah, so you're Mr. Gilmore?"

"For the past hour or so, yes."

"Luke, this is totally unfair of me to ask, but will you stay? I don't want to have to do this alone."

"I wasn't planning on leaving."

Lorelai smiled appreciatively. "I owe you one."

"Give up coffee for a week."

"I owe you something else."

He chuckled, seeing the nurse about to come out of the exam room. "I think it's time for you to head in. I'll be right here."

"Thank you," She said, slipping in as soon as the nurse opened the door. The door swung shut behind him and Luke let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. Had he kissed Lorelai earlier? He still couldn't be sure if it had actually happened. Of all the times he imagined the moment he'd build up the courage to kiss her, he didn't think that would be it. She looked so lost and he just needed her to know that it was all going to be okay. Had she kissed him back? He couldn't remember. He remembered the feeling of her hands running through the hair that fell outside of the baseball cap she'd given him the last time they were in this hospital. But had she kissed him back, or were her hands still there from when she'd hugged him? It was probably just better to forget about it. There was no way Lorelai had meant it even if she had kissed him back. Just a week ago she was going to marry Max. There was no way she felt for him like he felt for her, and he was foolish to think that she would. He was interrupted from his spiraling thoughts when the door swung open to reveal Rory, hobbling on crutches, and Lorelai.

"Well, she's going to live." Lorelai announced.

"Barely. I can't have any coffee for three weeks!"

"Sweetie, there's always decaf."

"Mom, you know we don't drink decaf."

"There's important stuff going on in that brain of yours. You're not screwing it up for coffee." Luke told Rory. "But I'll be sure to make the decaf extra strong tomorrow."

"You're an angel," she told him.

"We're both taking the day off tomorrow, and Rory's not allowed to read, so prepare yourself to be extra annoyed tomorrow morning." Lorelai warned him, smiling.

"How long until you can go back to school?" Luke asked.

"Three days." Rory answered quickly.

"If she's feeling up to it. She might not heal as quickly as she plans to." Lorelai said, looking at Rory. "You're not going back to school just to make the concussion worse." She told her.

"Mom, I'm going to be so behind-"

"Rory, we'll talk about it in three days."

Rory huffed, defeated. "I had a few concussions in high school too," Luke told Rory. "Sports stuff. It sucks, but if you go back too soon you're just going to be in pain and not learning anything."

"See?" Lorelai reiterated. "Luke's smart. He knows things."

"Yeah, yeah." Rory said.

"Well, I'm going to take her home so she can rest," Lorelai told Luke. "Thank you for everything." she said sincerely. "We'll see you tomorrow?"

"I'll be there."

The next morning, Lorelai walked into Luke's Diner alone. She looked around and made eye contact with Luke, who then realized that Lorelai hadn't brought along her mini-me.

"Where's Rory?" He asked.

"Still in bed. She didn't want to hobble down here on crutches, so I offered to drive, but she's still pretty exhausted so I'm going to bring some stuff home to her and we'll have breakfast in bed."

"How are the two of you holding up?"

"She's going to be okay, I think."

"And you?"

"I got up every two hours last night to check on her, but other than that I'm okay. I'm angry, but I'm okay."

"Angry with…" Luke prodded.

"I don't even know. Dean, Me, Max, Rory, but then I can't be mad at Rory for all of this so it just comes back to me. I can't believe the girl I raised would end up in that situation, you know?"

"It's got nothing to do with the girl you raised. It's got a lot to do with the man that his parents raised." Luke told her seriously.

"Wow. I hadn't thought about it that way. You're right." Lorelai said, looking at him and suddenly remembering what had happened yesterday when they'd looked at each other like this. "Luke, can we talk upstairs?"

"Yeah," he answered, letting Caesar know he was taking a break and leading Lorelai up to his apartment, letting her in first and shutting the door behind him, then turning around to look at her.

"So, you wanted to talk," Luke said.

"Yeah, I just realized that when I got home last night, I was a little distracted."

"Hey, no big deal."

"No, no, it really was a big deal."

"Seriously, you don't need to-"

"We kissed." There was a long pause, and Lorelai considered running away, or possibly throwing herself out the window. She didn't expect his reaction to be complete radio silence. "You and me, we kissed."

"I remember."

"And it was...unexpected."

"Lorelai, relax. I'm fine if you want to forget it ever happened, really." Luke told her, knowing full well that it was a lie.

"No, I don't want to forget that it ever happened."

Luke looked up at her. Could she really be saying what he thought she was? He was too shocked to speak, or at least almost. "Okay," he managed to respond.

"So...what do you think?" Lorelai asked, not really getting much emotional insight from his monosyllabic response.

"I think… I'm really relieved that you feel that way."

"So you concur?"

"Dear God, yes."

"Well, good. But Luke-"

"What?" he asked, wondering what could possibly be stopping this before it started.

"We need to keep it quiet for a while. Rory's going through a rough time, and the town is still buzzing because of my broken engagement, which thankfully has taken their attention off of Rory, but-" Luke cut her off by kissing her, moving his hands to cup her face and tilt it up towards his. Lorelai reacted after she realized what was going on, and wrapped her arm around Luke's neck, leaning further into him as the kiss deepened. Luke moved his hands to her waist and Lorelai responded by dragging her fingernails lightly across his back. Luke moved his hands from her waist to cover her rear and she mewled into him, breaking apart after a moment for air.

"You can't even imagine," Luke said, kissing her jawbone. "How long I've dreamed about doing that."

"Well, it paid off." Lorelai giggled. "I would love to stay, but I've really got to get back to Rory. Lane is coming over tonight and they're going to watch a movie. Are you free?"

"I can be," he told her, smiling.

"I'll see you tonight?" She asked

"Tonight," he said, kissing her on the cheek before she walked back downstairs, grabbing her take-out bag from Caesar and walking out of the diner.


	9. Chapter 9

Lorelai rolled out of bed late Sunday morning to find that Rory was still sleeping peacefully. She smiled and located a scrap of paper and a pen to write her daughter a note.

"Headed out to do some groceries. I'll bring back coffee from Luke's. Love you, Mom." She signed, leaving the note by the coffee maker, as she knew her daughter would make a beeline for it once she woke up.

She pulled on a jacket as she walked out of her house and towards Doose's market, making a mental list of things she needed to pick up. Poptarts, red vines, bagels, coffee, butter, pizza, she repeated to herself as she walked through the town and into the grocery store. She picked up a basket and grabbed all the necessary items, in addition to some mallomars, a quart of ice cream, and some milk. She walked up to the checkout lane, expecting to see Taylor, and ended up seeing someone a million times more unpleasant.

"Hi, Lorelai." Dean said innocently.

"Dean." Lorelai said, not looking up.

"How's Rory feeling?" He asked.

"What's it to you?"

"Just wondering when I can expect to see her again."

"I'd say probably a week or two from never." Lorelai said, handing him her debit card to pay for her groceries.

"I wouldn't be too sure about that. Small town, you know?" Dean said, handing Lorelai her debit card and receipt. "See you around, Lorelai." He smiled, handing her her groceries. Lorelai rolled her eyes as she took them from him and made her way straight into Luke's Diner. He spotted her when she came in.

"You know, we stock the food here. You don't need to bring your own for us to cook." He teased, seeing the bags in her arms before she saw the look on her face.

"I hate him!" Lorelai exclaimed, putting her bags on the counter.

"Who?" Luke asked, now a little concerned.

Lorelai looked around. The diner was mostly empty, so she decided to take her chances. She leaned over the counter, getting closer to Luke so that she could whisper. "Dean," she said.

"Yeah, I thought that was pretty well-established-"

"I forgot that he works at the grocery store." Lorelai clarified.

"He still works at the grocery store? I thought for sure Taylor fired him-"

"Yeah, well, he must have rehired him, because I had the pleasure of being his customer just now."

"Did he say anything to you?"

"He wanted to know when he'd be able to see Rory again." She admitted, her voice less animated now. "So naturally I told him never, and he said, and I quote 'I wouldn't be too sure about that." Lorelai told Luke, looking to him for some sort of comfort. Luke's jaw tightened and he clenched his fists from behind the counter where Lorelai couldn't see. "I just want her to be safe, Luke, I need her to be safe."

"We'll keep her safe." He said, returning his attention back to Lorelai. "We'll fix it. We'll fight it. We'll get a lawyer, and a restraining order."

"You hate lawyers."

"Yeah, well, I love Rory. And…" He was about to continue, but he paused for a moment. "And I hate seeing you all torn up like this. We'll take care of it. I promise." He told her, squeezing her hand after checking to make sure no customers were looking.

"Thank you," she smiled at him. "Can I have two coffees to go please? Rory's probably awake and trying to hobble through the kitchen to make her own breakfast by now.

"It's 11:30." He said.

"Yes, which is still morning, and therefore still breakfast time. And you know what every breakfast needs? A good, strong cup of coffee."

"Yet I somehow manage to eat breakfast every day without it," he said, pouring their cups. "I'll see you later?" He asked.

"We'll probably be by for dinner."

"And I'll see you…"

"Rory's got a Chilton thing after dinner." She smiled at him as she picked up her groceries. "See you later."

"I'll be here."

Later that night, Luke and Lorelai sat in Luke's apartment, their feet on the coffee table as their torsos were snuggled into each other. Luke had one arm wrapped around Lorelai's shoulder and was using his hand to absently twirl one of her coffee-colored curls around his fingers. Her head was laying against his shoulder, and her arms were wrapped around his waist. Some cheesy hallmark movie was playing, but they were more focused on their own togetherness than the plot.

"Luke," Lorelai murmured nervously, not wanting to ruin their moment but also knowing that the upcoming conversation needed to happen.

"What's wrong?" He asked, shifting a little.

"Nothing, nothing's wrong."

"Lorelai, I know that tone. What's bothering you?"

"Do you really think I should get Rory a restraining order?"

"Yes." Luke answered without even thinking about it. "Maybe he'd never think about doing anything again now that I broke his nose, but it doesn't matter either way if there's a legal document keeping him away from her."

"I need you to help me tell her."

"I'd be glad to, but are you sure? That seems like something she might not want me to be there for."

"She won't do it unless she knows you're okay with it. She's smart, the first thing she'll think of is that you'd have testify in court, and she knows you hate lawyers-"

"She should also know that I meant it when I told her I'd do anything for her. Lorelai, I love that kid like she was mine. When she came into the diner that first night, I became someone I didn't even recognize. It was like nothing else mattered except keeping her safe. And then when she told me how long it'd been going on… Lor, I nearly got sick. When I ever saw Dean holding her in the square… I barely even remember anything that happened. I just remember being angry, and needing her to be okay. I remember needing to do whatever it was to make sure she was okay."

"Oh, Luke-"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"No, Luke, let me finish. I don't want you to be sorry. You don't understand how good it makes me feel to know you feel those things."

"Wouldn't anybody feel that way?"

Lorelai laughed a little. "No, Luke. Think about it. Would you have reacted like that if it was any other girl from Stars Hollow High School? Would you have opened the diner for her after hours, would you have given her an out so she didn't have to spend time with her

mother's fiance? Would you have driven her to the hospital yourself?"

"I guess not."

"Luke, I love that you love Rory. I couldn't be with you now if you didn't. Rory is number one in my life, and she always will be. And you have always been there for Rory, since the day we moved to Stars Hollow."

"I haven't done that much," he said shyly.

"You went to all four of her dance recitals. You made her just about a million milkshakes when she had her tonsils removed. You've been to every birthday party. You make sure she takes breaks when she studies at the diner so she doesn't tire herself out. You've done a hell of a lot more than her real dad has."

"Yeah, well, I happen to think that her real dad is a class-A jerk."

"Luke," Lorelai said, surprised at his anger.

"He had an amazing shot. He had the most amazing, beautiful, whip-smart woman I have ever met."

"Luke," she said, blushing.

"No, I'm being serious. He had you, and he had a baby. And he left it all behind."

"I said no to his proposal."

"You didn't tell him you didn't want your daughter to have a father." Lorelai was silent. She knew he was right. "And he comes around every few years. He says it's going to be different. You bend over backwards giving him reasons to stay. Rory gets her hopes up. And he packs up and leaves again. Rory's devastated and doesn't understand why her own dad won't stay for longer than a three-day weekend, and you're left to pick up the pieces. He's a jerk, Lorelai, and it kills me to see him hurt the two of you."

Lorelai was so overcome with emotions that she didn't know what to do. She removed her arms from his waist and Luke stirred, worried that he'd upset her with his impassioned speech. His fears were assuaged when Lorelai rolled over to straddle him and crashed her lips into his passionately. He responded immediately, putting his hands on either side of her waist to support her as she kissed him.

"Thank you," She whispered to him.

"Nothing to thank me for," he responded in between kisses, breathless.

"No," she corrected, kissing him again. "Thank you for showing me I don't have to settle for someone who comes around once every couple of years," She kissed him again. "Or someone who's just "okay" with me having a kid," She kissed him. "Thank you."

"I've only given you what you deserve," he told her, his finger rubbing the hem of her shirt, and she kissed him again.

"Luke, I'd love to stay. I want to stay so, so bad."

"But…" Luke said, anticipating the rest of her sentence.

"Rory's going to be home soon. She'll be expecting me there."

"I don't want you to go either," He told her.

"I know. Will you come over tomorrow, so we can talk to her about the restraining order?"

"Yeah, I can be over around 2." He told her.

"It's a date." She said, kissing him one more time as she slipped her shoe on and walked towards the door.


	10. Chapter 10

The next afternoon, Luke knocked on Lorelai's door, and she opened it as if she'd been standing there waiting for him.

"I saw you pull in," she explained as he stepped inside and she shut the door behind him. Before he could respond, she had stepped in front of him, backing him into the door so she could press her lips into his.

"Lorelai," He said in between kisses. "Rory's home."

"We'll just have to be really quiet," she told him in between kisses. Before the situation could get any more heated, they heard Rory's door swing open and were separated in an instant.

"Mom," Rory called from the kitchen, "Luke's truck is in the driveway,"

"Yup, just let him in babe!" Lorelai called back as they walked around the corner, meeting Rory in the living room.

"Hey Luke, what brings you here?"

"Actually kid, we wanted to talk to you." Lorelai told her

"Oh.. okay," Rory responded tepidly.

"You're not in trouble," Lorelai chuckled a little at her daughter's change in tone. "Let's go sit in the living room." She said, and they all moved to settle themselves in the furniture, Rory in a chair and Luke and Lorelai sitting next to each other on the couch.

"So what's this about?" Rory asked.

"Wow, right to the point there, huh kid?" Lorelai asked, then sighing, knowing that even her stellar sense of humor wasn't going to make this conversation any easier. "Listen, kiddo. We need to talk about the Dean situation."

"What about it? We're broken up, we go to different schools, we grocery shop in the next town over until he gets fired. It's all settled."

"Rory," Lorelai pleaded. "I'm sure that you don't have any plans to cross paths with Dean anymore, but even the best laid plans…" she trailed off.

"What are you saying?" She asked.

"Rory, I think it's best if you get a restraining order," Luke interjected, able to tell that Lorelai was struggling. They both turned to look at him, surprised to hear his voice.

"That's ridiculous." Rory said.

"Rory, we just want to keep you safe." He pleaded.

"I am safe," She protested.

"You're hobbling around on crutches," Luke argued.

"I can't." Rory said, looking to her mom for support.

"Baby, what do you mean you can't? Is he threatening you or-"

"No!" Rory answered, and Luke and Lorelai both let out a sigh of relief. "I just can't, Mom. I can't see him court. I can't handle the way the gossip will spread around this town if we do sue. I can't do that." She admitted. Luke and Lorelai looked at each other, unsure of how to proceed. Lorelai spoke up.

"Ror, you've got to understand how hard this is for me. My number one, my most important thing, is always going to be keeping you safe. But I don't want to force you to do something that's going to scar you anymore than all of this already has."

"How about we hold off for a while," Rory said. "If he so much as glances at me, I'll let you call a lawyer and I'll grin and bear it through the trial. But let's not rush into anything. I don't want to ruin Dean's life either. A restraining order would stay on his record forever. He'd never be able to get a job, he wouldn't be able to-"

"He deserves a record, Rory." Luke interrupted. "If you really don't want a restraining order for you, don't get one. But for the love of God, please don't do anything to spare Dean. Those things would happen to him because that's what he deserves for hurting you. Do you know that, Rory? Do you know that you didn't deserve any of that? That he was completely, 100% in the wrong to treat you like that?"

"Yeah," Rory said, looking down at the floor. "I mean, I get it. I do. Logically, I know that. But you know, I kind of signed up for it. I chose to date him. I chose to stay with him. I chose not to tell anyone what was going on. I could have-"

"No, Rory. he was manipulating you. He wants you to think that this was all your fault. He wants you to think all of those awful, awful things, but they're not true, okay?"

"Okay." Rory said, a bit more self-assured this time.

"Rory, please promise me you'll be honest and tell me right away if something happens." Lorelai asked her daughter.

"I will. Can I ask you guys something?"

"Anything," Lorelai responded almost immediately.

"Are you two dating now?"

"What? I don't even, why would you-what would make you think-" Lorelai sputtered.

"You're looking at him like he looks at you all the time. That "completely-smitten but attempting to hide it" kind of look." Rory explained. "Plus, you're sputtering, and Luke is blushing, so if I wasn't sure before, I'm pretty sure now."

"Well if you must know," Lorelai enthused teasingly. "Luke and I are… going on dates." Lorelai searched for a label.

"Going on dates." Rory confirmed.

"Going on dates." Luke affirmed.

"Alright, well… I'll let the "going-on-dates" couple have the house… I'm going over to Lane's. I'll be back after dinner. Be good." She said, kissing her mother goodbye and waving to Luke before she took her coat off the rack and left.

"Huh." Luke said as the door shut behind Rory.

"Are you mad?"

"Why would I be mad?" he asked, standing up from the couch.

"I don't know, that just… isn't how I pictured that conversation."

"Yeah, well, me neither, but I'm glad it happened sooner rather than later."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," he said, reaching for her hands and pulling her up into her arms. "Because now I can do this," he said, using a finger to tilt her head up towards his before planting a slow, loving kiss on her lips, "without worrying if the world's most observant 15 year old is in the other room."

"She is pretty smart," Lorelai smiled.

"The smartest."

"So…" Lorelai said, still smiling.

"So does this mean I finally get to take you on a proper first date?"

"Wow, a "proper" date? Will the queen be there?" She teased.

"Isn't that you? I hope you'd have the decency to show."

"Oh, Mr. Danes, flattery will get you everywhere in this kingdom."

"Are you free on Friday?"

"I have-"

"Friday night dinner. Right, Right. Saturday?"

"Saturday." She smiled up at him.

"Someone's giddy."

"The last time I went on a date I had to hire a sitter. And a sitter who knew how to change diapers. It's been a while."

"It's been about the same for me."

"You had to hire a sitter? Something I don't know about, Danes?"

"You're lucky I'm such a good sport."

"Yeah, I am."

"Can I make you dinner?"

"Here?"

"Yeah. I'll make dinner for the three of us and it'll be ready when she gets back. I don't think she's going to fill up on eggless egg salad from ."

"Oh, Luke, that's so sweet. But I want to have a little time alone with her. She kind of dashed out of here once she found out that we were dating."

"You don't think she's upset, do you?"

"I don't think so, but I do want to talk to her about it. There's never been a guy around, in her whole life. I mean, there was you, you were there, all the time, but this is just...different."

"I totally understand. Just… let me know how it goes, okay?"

"Of course. I'll call you tonight?"

"I'll be looking forward to it."


	11. Chapter 11

"Mom, Luke!" Rory called as she walked into her house. "I'm home!"

"In here, sweets!" Lorelai called from the kitchen."

"Where's Luke?" Rory asked when she realized he wasn't in the kitchen.

"He went home a little while after you."

"Why?" Rory asked, confused. "Did I embarrass you guys? I didn't mean to-"

"No, sweetie, that's not it at all. I'm glad you know."

"Well then what is it?"

"I just wanted to make sure that you were okay," Lorelai clarified. "You sort of made a mad dash for the door as soon as you found out. Are you upset, do you want to talk about it?"

"Mom, of course I'm not upset!" Rory said, as if the sheer idea of it was ridiculous. "It's Luke, not some guy from a biker gang."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean… if you brought some random guy into the house, I'd probably be upset. I wouldn't say anything because I want you to be happy but it'd be weird. But Luke is kind of already a part of our family. I think he's proved himself over the past decade and a half, haven't you?"

"You're sure you're not upset?" Lorelai asked again."

"I'm _happy_ mom. You two really seem to get each other. He keeps you grounded, and he isn't as grumpy when you're in the room. When did all of this happen?"

"Well, I accidentally kissed him when he brought you to the hospital-"

"Wait, wait, wait. Accidental kissing is not a thing."

"It _was_ a thing! I was just so scared but I was so glad that he was keeping you safe, and all of those emotions just sort of came out at once, and I kissed him."

"And then what happened?" Rory asked eagerly

"Uh, then you hobbled out of the room and we realized that it was super appropriate to make out in the hallway of a hospital."

"Ah man, I ruined it," she said teasingly. "So how long were you going to keep it a secret from your loving, sweet, devoted daughter?"

"We hadn't really talked about it, sweetheart. We only really talked to make sure we were on the same page about wanting to be together, and I told him that I didn't want to tell you right away after everything that had happened, not to mention the fact that I called off my wedding less than three weeks ago."

"Right… you would've told me first, though, right?"

"Of course!" Lorelai told her daughter sincerely.

"Okay, good."

"Rory, I want to ask you something."

"Okay, shoot."

"Promise me you'll tell me if you start to feel uncomfortable. I know you're saying you aren't now, and I'm really happy about that, but if you start feeling weird about any of this, just let me know, okay? I mean it when I say that you're my number one girl."

"I will." Rory acquiesced.

"Thank you sweetie."

"Can we go to Luke's for dinner?" Rory asked, and Lorelai laughed. "What?" she asked her mother, confused.

"He offered to cook us dinner here and I told him no so that I could talk to you."

"Well that was stupid, we could have had diner food in our actual house! We could've worn our pajamas!"

"You're right, I don't know what I thought I was doing, being considerate of my daughter."

"So we can go?" Rory batted her eyelashes."

"Yes, we can go," Lorelai droned, not even able to get the whole phrase out without laughing.

Luke was surprised to hear Lorelai and Rory enter the diner, but he certainly wasn't complaining. He walked over to their table.

"What'll it be, ladies?"

"Luke, the diner is empty. You don't have to pretend like we're strangers," Lorelai pointed out to him.

Luke looked around and then pulled out a chair. "Surprised to see the two of you tonight."

'Yeah, well. Mrs. Kim's eggless egg sandwiches didn't exactly hit the spot," Rory responded, and Luke chuckled. "I bet a burger would though," she quickly followed up.

"Oh, me too, me too!" Lorelai piped in.

"One day, one of you is going to order a salad," Luke muttered.

"There's lettuce on the burger, Luke. It's basically a salad."

Luke grumbled something under his breath as he walked away to place their orders, and the girls turned to each other and laughed.

"What was that thing you said about him being less grumpy?" Lorelai teased.

"It's a different kind of grumpy."

"How so?"

"He's grumpy because he cares. It's a special kind of grumpy reserved exclusively for you,"

"I don't even know what I'd do if I found out he was grumpily preparing other women's burgers."

"That sounds dirty,"

"Hey, dirty is my thing."

"You gave me the opportunity mom, I had to take it."

Luke walked over a few moments later carrying three plates.

"That was fast," Lorelai commented.

"Well I knew that you weren't going to be cooking, so I'd started the hamburgers before you even came in. It was pretty much just a matter of either plating them or putting them in a box."

"What's this?" Rory asked, referring to the third plate, which had a variety of different cold cuts and veggies wrapped in lettuce.

"That's mine."

"Gross, why?" Lorelai asked.

"I know for a fact that there's no way you've ever eaten anything wrapped in lettuce, so there's no way you've ever eaten this, so you can't possibly know that it's gross." He countered, walking back to the counter to get them coffee.

"He makes a good argument," Rory supported. He set their coffees down and sat at the table with them.

"Go ahead, eat." Luke said, and they dug in.

"This is nice," Lorelai said.

"A little weird, but nice," Luke agreed.

"What's weird about it?" Rory asked.

"Eating in the dining area of my own diner," he answered.

"It's a good weird though, right?" Lorelai asked.

"Yeah, it's a good weird," he answered, squeezing her hand as they continued to eat.


	12. Chapter 12

Lorelai and Rory stood outside the Gilmore Mansion and rung the doorbell, both of them silently wondering if the same maid from last week would answer the door. It swung open, revealing a familiar face.

"Hey, Angela, you survived!" Lorelai exclaimed and Angela returned a polite but knowing smile.

"Congratulations, most don't make it past the three-day mark." Rory echoed, handing Angela her coat.

"I'll let Mrs. Gilmore know that you're here," She smiled, taking Lorelai's coat and disappearing as Lorelai and Rory made their way to the parlor.

"Oh, my girls are here!" Emily said as she came down the stairs. "What can I get you to drink?"

"White wine please," Lorelai requested of her mother

"Water is fine" Rory said.

"Are you sure Rory? I've got sodas, I could even make you a Shirley Temple," Emily said sweetly.

"Uh, sure Grandma, a Shirley Temple would be great."

"Mom, you sure are extra chipper tonight." Lorelai accused.

"Lorelai, don't be silly, I was just excited to see my daughter and granddaughter, is that crazy?"

"You've never been that excited to see me before," Lorelai muttered.

"So, where's Grandpa?" Rory asked, trying to redirect the conversation before it got ugly.

"He's just in his office, I had something I wanted to ask you before he came out."

"Oh, _there_ it is!" Lorelai exclaimed.

"Lorelai," Her mother warned. "Rory, I wanted to ask you if you'd be interested in coming out."

"Mom!" Lorelai exclaimed

"Wait, wait, what does that mean?" Rory asked.

"Rory, you don't have to do this. Don't let her make you do this."

"Lorelai!" Emily exclaimed "of course she doesn't _have_ to do it, she doesn't _have_ to do anything."

"I'd have a lot easier time deciding whether or not I'd do it if someone would just tell me what it is!" Rory tried to pipe in.

"It's basically the modern-day ritual for joining the cult of true womanhood." Lorelai explained, much to Emily's chagrin.

"It's a debutante ball. It's a ceremony, a very nice ceremony, that celebrates you becoming a woman. You get to wear a gown, that Dean could escort you if you can get him to take a shower and put on a tux-"

"Dean's not in the picture anymore, Grandma." Rory explained.

"Oh, that's neither here nor there then, we'll set you up with some nice young boy. I think Mitchum Huntzberger's son is about your age. Anyway, you get to wear a beautiful gown, you dance, we have a meal. It's a lovely time."

"Sure Grandma, I'll do it. " Rory answered, much to Lorelai's shock.

"Oh, marvelous!" Emily exclaimed, clapping her hands excitedly. "Richard," Emily called towards the study. "Rory has decided to come out."

"Well, that's just wonderful!" Richard said, emerging from the study. "You'll make a beautiful debutante."

"I can't believe this is happening, I'm watching my daughter slip between my fingers and fall into the clutches of high society right before my eyes!" Lorelai exclaimed.

"Oh mom, relax, it's one day. I want to wear a pretty princess gown," she begged teasingly.

"And that you will!" Emily exclaimed, "Oh, I'm just so excited."

* * *

"I can't believe my baby girl is a debutante," Lorelai exclaimed as she and Rory walked through the diner and to the counter, sitting at a barstool.

"A debu-what?" Luke asked, appearing from the kitchen with a pot of coffee that Lorelai was eyeing longingly.

"A debutante," Rory answered Luke.

"Which means…" he asked, clearly looking for more answers as he poured coffee into mugs for the two of them.

"It's a ceremony to let the high society of Hartford know that Lorelai Leigh Gilmore is now of suitable marrying age," Lorelai answered, rolling her eyes.

"What? She's fifteen!" Luke exclaimed.

"I don't have to get married," Rory rolled her eyes but smiled at her mother's antics. "I get to wear a pretty dress and dance with boys in tuxedos," she teased further.

"Can't you wear a pretty dress in your own home where no boys can see you?" Luke asked, begging a little.

"And risk breaking my grandmother's heart? Never!" Rory said, looking over the pamphlets her grandmother had given her before she'd left the house. "Oh," she said, deflating a little.

"What's wrong?" Lorelai asked immediately.

"It just says here that the debutante's father is supposed to present her."

"So we'll call him. Maybe send him a picture of your patented pout in the mail."

"You think he'll come?" Rory asked.

"Well, who could say no to that pout?" Lorelai echoed, giving Luke a look that let him know she wasn't so sure.


	13. Chapter 13

Luke rang the doorbell and stood on Lorelai's porch nervously. He felt stupid even being nervous: this was Lorelai. He and Lorelai, they were something special. They were good together. He was pulled out of his reverie when the door swung open to reveal Lorelai, who was wearing a short red dress that clung to her waist but came out a little around her hips, revealing her long legs but still remaining classy. Her hair was just how he liked it, in ringlets framing her face.

"You look...incredible," he said, taking a moment to search for the right word.

"You clean up pretty good yourself," she told him. He'd removed the blue baseball cap she'd given him and swapped his more casual ensemble for a shirt and tie.

"You ready to get going?" He asked her.

"Yeah, let's go," she said, stepping outside with him and closing the door behind her.

"You're not going to lock the door?" Luke asked, a little incredulous.

Lorelai chuckled a little. "I never lock the door."

"Lorelai," Luke admonished. "That's not safe."

"I don't know if Rory has her key with her, she's at Lane's."

"You could be robbed," he told her.

"What are they going to take, my yellowpages?"

"Do you lock the door at night?"

"Why would I lock the door when I'm going to be in the house?"

"You're two women living alone, it's not safe. I'm changing the locks tomorrow, how many copies of the key do you need?"

"Well, one for me, one for the frog, one for Rory, one for Sookie and one for you."

"I don't have a key to your house," Luke said.

"I know, but I thought maybe now you might want one, since apparently the doors will be locked when I'm in the house and when I leave the house, which by the way is 100% of the time."

"Huh."

"So, where are we going?"

"This place in Hartford."

"Ooh, fancy."

"Just you wait, Gilmore."

"Oh, but I hate waiting!" She teased.

"I had to wait five years to take you on this date, humor me for the next 25 minutes," he dished back.

"Five years… that seems crazy. Do you remember the first day we met? I'm trying to remember, but… it was at Luke's right? It must have been…"

"It was at Luke's. It was lunch, it was a very busy day, the place was packed, and this person-"

"Oh, is it me? Is it me?"

"This person comes tearing into the place in a caffeine frenzy."

"Oh, it's me."

"I was with a customer. She interrupts me, wild-eyed, begging for coffee, so I tell her to wait her turn. Then she starts following me around, talking a mile a minute, saying God knows what. So finally I turn to her, and I tell her she's being annoying - sit down, shut up, I'll get to her when I get to her."

"You know, I bet she took that very well, because she sounds just delightful."

"She asked me what my birthday was. I wouldn't tell her. She wouldn't stop talking. I gave in. I told her my birthday. Then she opened up the newspaper to the horoscope page, wrote something down, tore it out, handed it to me. So I'm looking at this piece of paper in my hand, and under "Scorpio," she had written, "you will meet an annoying woman today. Give her coffee and she'll go away." I gave her coffee."

"But she didn't go away,"

"Pull my wallet out of the console," Luke requested, and Lorelai complied, opening it up and pulling out a worn piece of paper. "She told me to hold on to that horoscope, put it in my wallet, and carry it around with me. One day, it would bring me luck."

"Well man," Lorelai said breathlessly, "I will say anything for a cup of coffee. I can't believe you kept this." Lorelai returned the sacred print to his wallet as Luke parked the car.

"Lorelai, this thing we're doing here… me, you… I just want you to know that I'm in. I'm all in. Does that, uh… Are you scared?"

"Am I allowed to say yes and no?"

"You can say anything you want," Luke whispered into her ear, sliding closer to her in the front seat.

Lorelai turned her head to face his and pulled him into a long kiss. She let her hands rest on either side of his neck and felt his hands come to rest on her waist as he pulled her more towards him. Too soon, he pulled away.

"We should probably make it through dinner first," Luke said breathlessly.

"Probably," Lorelai responded, not breaking eye contact with him.

"If you keep looking at me like that I'm not going to make it."

"I'll keep that in mind," she teased, flashing him a bright smile before opening her car door and stepping out. Luke followed her, then walked around the truck to hold her hand as they walked into the restaurant.

"We have a reservation under Danes," Luke told the hostess, who led them to their table.

"This is a nice place," Lorelai remarked.

"Well, I wanted to take you on a nice date," Luke responded.

"Luke, you could have taken me to Al's Pancake World and I would've been happy,"

"Why would I take you to Al's Pancake World? My food is better than his."

"I was looking forward to the company more than the food," Lorelai explained, and Luke blushed a little.

"Well you deserve a nice date. You do so much for other people, let me do something nice for you."

"You do a lot for other people too, you know."

"Yes, we're both Mother Theresa," Luke teased as a waiter came by with a bottle of champagne and two flutes. "To you," Luke said as the waiter walked away.

"I'll drink to that," she teased as she lifted her flute to his and took a sip.

"You want to dance?"

"You can dance?" Lorelai asked, astounded.

"For the right lady," He said, standing up and extending his hand, which she took.

He let him lead her to the dance floor and put one of his hands on the curve of her waist, the other enclosed around hers. She put her remaining hand on his shoulder and let him lead her skillfully as the music played.

"Luke Danes, you can waltz!" Lorelai said, surprised.

"Don't tell anyone, I don't need to be the male counterpart in any of 's lessons," Luke responded seriously, to which Lorelai laughed. "We should probably sit and order,"

"Tired?" Lorelai teased.

"Never." he responded as they went to sat down and perused the menus for the moment before Luke spoke up. "So, earlier… you said that you were scared and not scared at the same time… Care to elaborate?"

"Luke, I trust you in a way that I trust very few people. I trust you with my daughter's life, which is truly an exorbitant amount of trust-"

"Which I don't take lightly."

"I know you don't. That's all the more reason I can freely give it."

"Anyways, you were saying."

"I trust you, Luke. But I have a habit of screwing up my life."

"Lorelai,"

"No, Luke, I'm serious. You and Rory are the two good things I have in my life. And for the first six years or so I was desperately, desperately afraid of screwing up Rory,"

"You didn't screw up Rory. You did a fantastic job with Rory, and you did it all by yourself. I know I don't need to tell you how amazing she is, but Lorelai, Rory is the amazing young woman that she is because she's had an amazing woman as her example."

"Luke," Lorelai began to counter, much as she had tried to counter him just a moment ago.

"You can say anything you want, but I stand by all of what I just said."

"I'm just scared of screwing it up. That's going to be a part of it for a while for me. I wish it wasn't like that but it is."

"Lorelai, I meant it when I said I was all in. I'm here for every bump in the road. All of it."

"You have no idea how good it is to hear that," Lorelai responded, smiling as she thought about the road ahead, bumps and all.


	14. Chapter 14

"He's coming," Lorelai said as she helped Rory step into her Debutante dress.

"He said he would come. He's going to come," Rory repeated back to her

"He's coming." Lorelai said, continuing on with the mantra they'd been repeating for the past fifteen or so minutes. The phone rang, and Rory dove out of her dress to run to it, nearly tripping over the slip she was wearing in the process.

"Hello?" Rory answered.

"Hey kiddo," Christopher said.

"Dad! Are you on your way?" Rory said hopefully.

"Actually, kiddo…" Chris started.

"Oh." Rory said.

"I'm really sorry, Ror."

"No, it's whatever, Dad. It's whatever. I have to go.'' Rory hung up the phone and turned around, seeing her mother giving her a sad look. "I knew this would happen," Rory said sadly.

"Oh, Rory…" Lorelai said.

"No, mom, I'm not saying that for pity. 50% of the time he shows and 50% of the time he doesn't. He didn't want to come so he didn't. He's not exactly unpredictable."

"Oh, sweetie," Lorelai said, hugging her daughter when the phone rang again.

"That might be him, I did hang up on him." Rory said.

"I'll take care of it." Lorelai said, picking up the phone. "What's wrong with you?"

"Geez, good morning to you too." Luke's voice came through the receiver.

"Oh, Luke, I'm sorry. It's been a bit of a rough morning at the Crap Shack."

"That's actually why I called. What's going on?"

"Chris just called. He's not coming, and now Rory doesn't have anyone for her father-daughter dance or-"

"I'll do it."

"Luke, I couldn't possibly ask you-"

"You didn't ask. I offered. Rory's really excited about this. I'm not going to let Christopher ruin something for her yet again."

Lorelai smiled. "You'll need a tux."

"I've got one," he answered.

"Can you be ready to go in like two hours?'

"I think I can manage to shower and get changed between now and then."

"Ugh, it must be so easy to be a man. Anyway, I have to tend to our debutante. I'll see you soon?"

"See you soon."

Lorelai hung up the phone and turned to Rory. "So, you can say No. But, Luke offered to escort you." Lorelai said nervously, not sure how her daughter would feel about the offer.

"He did? Oh God, I owe him my whole entire life." Rory said, nearly jumping up and down in glee. "Thank God, I don't know what we would have done. Does he own a tux?"

"Apparently he does."

"Wow, I wouldn't have guessed that about him."

"Me neither," Lorelai said, gears starting to turn in her head.

"Okay, well, we should probably finish getting me ready."

"Yeah, right," Lorelai said, absently turning her attention back to her daughter.

* * *

Two hours later, as promised, Luke's green truck pulled up to Lorelai's house. He stepped out in a full tuxedo, his bow tie undone and hanging around his neck. He walked up to the door and used his new key to open it, letting himself in.

"Lorelai, Rory," he called out. "I'm here,"

"Upstairs," Lorelai called out, and Luke ascended the staircase, seeing the two girls sitting in the bathroom with the door open, Lorelai holding a can of hairspray and a fist full of bobby pins.

"My, my, don't you look handsome!" Lorelai said.

"I want to see, I want to see!" Rory exclaimed.

"Don't you dare move your head," Lorelai warned, trying to protect the curly updo that she had yet to properly secure.

"I won't." she said sadly.

Lorelai finished the updo with a few more bobby pins and a dash of hairspray. "Now, you take a good look at Luke while I grab your tiara." Lorelai said, bounding out of the bathroom. Rory stood up and turned around to face Luke.

"You look beautiful," he told her, and she blushed, looking at her feet, although they were occluded by the tulle of her gown.

"You look pretty good yourself. We should probably work on that bowtie though," she told him.

"I didn't know how to tie it," he admitted.

"Sit," she instructed him, gesturing to the chair where she had previously been sitting. He complied to her instructions and sat down, letting her lean in and tie the piece of fabric around his neck. After a few moments, she pulled at each end of the bow to make it even. "Looks perfect. Is it too tight?" she asked.

"Nope, it's perfect." He confirmed.

Lorelai returned with the tiara, and secured it to Rory's head with a few more clips. "Tell me, did we take out stock in the bobby pin company before this event?"

"I tried, but "the bobby pin company" isn't a valid stock code."

"What a shame," Rory bantered with her mother.

The doorbell rang. "Oh, that must be the limo," Lorelai said.

"Limo?" Luke asked.

"Yes, did you think Emily was going to let me pull up to this event in a jeep?" Lorelai asked.

"I suppose not." He responded.

"Rory, do you have the gloves?"

"Yes, mine and Luke's," she responded as they all rushed down the stairs.

"Rory, quit running, you're going to trip over your dress," Luke warned. "Wait, what about gloves?"

"Yes Rory, a lady never runs." Lorelai reminded her, ignoring her boyfriend.

"Sorry mother dearest." Rory teased, giving a curtsey as she reached the bottom of the stairs. "You're just mad because I beat you!"

"Race you to the limo!" Lorelai said.

"Oh, you are so on!" Rory said, taking off in a sprint, rushing past the chauffeur who was waiting in the doorway.

"One of you is going to break your neck in those heels!" Luke called after them, picking up his pace although not quite sprinting.

"I beat you!" Rory exclaimed, breathless.

"Ah, but you lost your title as a proper young lady of society."

"Man, and I didn't even get to step on Luke's toes because I suck at dancing!" Rory complained as she stepped into the limo, leaving Luke and Lorelai alone outside.

"Wouldn't you have also lost your title as a lady?" Luke asked as he put his hands around her waist.

"I lost that title about 16 years ago when the lady of the day was conceived. I'm no lady, Mr. Danes, I'm a class-A harlot," she flirted, and he kissed her neck.

"You look really nice," he told her.

"Thank you for doing this," she told him.

"I'm happy to," he told her.

"Yeah, well, you haven't seen the gloves yet. Or my parents."

"Maybe not, but Rory deserves this."

"Speaking of Rory, we should probably get going before she begins to flip that we're two minutes off-schedule,"

Luke just smirked, knowing how Rory could be when things didn't go exactly as according to plan. He opened the door of the limo for Lorelai and climbed in after her.

"Alright driver, lets go!" Rory called to the front of the limo.


	15. Chapter 15

When they arrived at the ball, Luke and Rory went directly to their respective sitting rooms and Lorelai went out into the seating area to find her parents. She took a deep breath when she saw them, and walked up to the table.

"Good morning Lorelai, where's Christopher?" Her mother asked.

"Christopher bailed, as per usual," Lorelai said, hanging her coat over the back of her chair.

"Christopher's not coming? What's Rory going to do?" Emily asked, starting to get manic.

"Luke is going to dance with her. Luke is my boyfriend. He has known Rory her whole life. He's done more to father her than Christopher has, and although I'm sure you'll be convinced that he's not good enough for me, we're very happy together. You can yell at me all you want some other time but I just want to remind you that today is about Rory. She's already upset that her father doesn't want her, please don't make her feel bad about letting Luke fill in." Lorelai spouted, reciting the speech she'd rehearsed in the car.

"Is this the ice-man? The man who looks at you like a porterhouse steak?"

"The very same," Lorelai told her mother, smiling as she braced herself for her mother's inevitable cruelty.

"Is he at least properly dressed?" Emily asked sharply.

"Yes, he's in a tux, and I gave him Christopher's gloves.

"Does he dance? He'd best not step on Rory's feet, those shoes cost a fortune,"

"He can waltz." Lorelai affirmed.

"Well, I have a lot to say about all of this, but you're right. This is Rory's day. I would have rather had Richard dance with her but it's too late now." Emily resigned.

"I'll take it," Lorelai smiled. "Let's just enjoy the ceremony."

* * *

"Ladies, I hope you're all ready, your escorts are here!" An event coordinator said, and the other girls in the room all squealed. She'd forgotten that her grandmother had set her up with the son of one of her friends from the DAR.

"You must be Rory," a handsome blonde boy said to her.

"How'd you know?" Rory asked.

"Your grandmother said to look for the prettiest girl in the room." Rory blushed. "Plus, you're the only girl in here that hasn't made her way through the circuit."

"What do you mean?"

"Most girls do a whole bunch of these, not just one. You're the third girl I've escorted in the past two months. By far the prettiest though. I'm Logan, by the way."

"Rory, but you already knew that." She extended her hand for him to shake but he kissed it instead.

"A lady shouldn't shake hands," he teased.

"Right, sorry. I'm not doing so hot at this "lady" thing."

"I won't tell if you don't."

"Deal."

"We should probably line up," Logan said, extending his hand to help her out of her chair. They stood in line for a while, until they heard their cue.

"Lorelai Leigh Gilmore, being presented by Logan Huntzberger," The woman's voice boomed into the crowd from the microphone. They began their descent down the stairs. Luke was at the bottom, and he smiled at Rory, though his face soon turned to stone.

"Why is your dad looking at me like he wants to kill me?" Logan whispered softly.

"He's a little overprotective. He probably won't kill you, but I'd keep your hands where he can see them."

Logan laughed a little. "Duly noted," he told her. "It's been a pleasure escorting you, Lorelai Leigh Gilmore. I hope you'll save a dance for me," Tristan said as they reached the bottom of the staircase.

"I'll take it from here," Luke said before Rory could answer. Rory took Luke's hand and let him place his other on her waist.

"Dancing with Lorelai is her father, Luke Danes." The voice said as the music began to play from the speakers.

"You'd think that once the name changed, they'd realize that I wasn't the father. You don't often get two of those," Luke teased as he led Rory around the dance floor.

"Well, that might have been because I only told them to change the name."

"Oh," Luke responded, a little surprised.

"I'm glad it was you, Luke. You deserve it more than him."

"Rory," Luke started.

"No, Luke, you do. You made me mashed potatoes every day for a week when I had the chicken pox. You took the training wheels off of my bike. You've always been there, and he never has."

"I'm sorry Rory. For what it's worth, I think it would be an honor to be the dad to a kid like you."

"Do you mean that, Luke? Do you really mean that?"

"Of course I do. I don't say things that I don't mean."

"Luke, I've always wished you were my real dad."

"Rory, I don't think it's any secret that I'm serious about your mother."

"She feels the same way about you."

"Good to hear. Being serious about your mother has always meant being serious about you, too. I know I can't replace your dad, but if there's anything I can do to make you feel like you aren't without one-"

"Luke, I have never missed my dad when he wasn't around. I was disappointed when he said he would show and then didn't, but I never really missed him when he wasn't here. I didn't need him, I had you. You're my dad as far as I'm concerned." Rory said, and Luke just smiled. "Unless you think that's really weird. We can just dance for a few more seconds and pretend like this never happened."

"You're the daughter I never thought I'd get. I am so lucky to hear you say what you just said. I don't think it's weird."

Rory beamed. "Well… good. Because that could've been really awkward."

"Glad to save you the embarrassment."

Their song ended, and the room began to applaud politely.

"Thanks for not letting me trip," she told him.

"Wouldn't dream of it."


	16. Chapter 16

Later that evening, the limo dropped Lorelai, Luke, and Rory back off at home. Rory went straight inside, wanting to be out of her dress and shoes. Lorelai and Luke stayed outside for a moment, saying thank you to their driver and then standing on the porch after he left.

"You have no reason to own a tuxedo," Lorelai said to Luke.

"I'm a mysterious man, Lorelai," Luke teased.

"Luke, you just decided to randomly rent a tuxedo the weekend of Rory's debutante ball, you called when you knew Christopher was supposed to arrive-"

"Well, I was aware that he doesn't have the best track record." Luke said plainly, looking at the ground. "Are you mad?" He asked, looking up at her for a moment.

"Mad? Luke, how could I be mad?"

"I don't know… I felt weird about doing it, and especially about doing it without telling you. I didn't want to step on your toes by making the assumption that he wouldn't show, but I had my suspicions and I didn't want Rory to miss out because her dad's a deadbeat." He admitted, looking at his shoes again.

"Luke, I am so the opposite of mad… For once, my daughter wasn't the one sticking out like a sore thumb. She looked just like every other girl at the father daughter dance. She wasn't dancing with her grandfather, she didn't have to sit this one out. You did that for her. You gave her something I can't-"

"You've given her everything." Luke said, putting his hands on her arms, causing her to look up at him.

"I've given her everything I can, but I can't give her everything. Not by myself. Thank you."

Luke ducked his head a little to pull Lorelai into a passionate kiss, moving his hands from her arms to her waist and pulling her in even closer when she placed her hands on either side of his neck.

"Someone's going to see… Rory," Lorelai murmured in between kisses.

"Let her see," Luke said.

"Babette… Morey… Miss Patty."

Luke pulled away, although he did so reluctantly, leaving a few more kisses behind as he created space between them. "Good point." He said breathlessly.

"Just a little bit longer. Then we can tell everyone." Lorelai assured him.

"Take all the time you need. I'm happy just to be with you," Luke told her genuinely, taking her hand and rubbing small circles on it with his thumb.

Just then the door swung open, revealing Rory, who had changed into a pair of sweatpants and a tank top but left her hair and makeup completely intact. "Can we get food? I'm starving and the only things in the fridge are a two liter of rootbeer and half a cheesecake."

Luke shook his head. "How do you live like this?" He asked Lorelai, only half sarcastically.

"A cheesecake is actually a pretty well-balanced meal, Luke. You've got your dairy, your carbs are in the crust."

"Oh good, you've got the two least healthy food groups covered."

"Let me finish, mister. Then you melt some of the strawberry stuff from the freezer and you've got a fruit. So it's not a bad meal to have." Lorelai told him.

"You're insane."

"Hey, you picked me."

"That I did. I'm going to run home and change, I'll bring back food in like twenty minutes. Think you can wait that long?" Luke asked Rory.

"Well, you know, us ladies are prone to bouts of fainting due to exhaustion and lack of nutrition… but I'll try my best to pull through."

"Good. I'll be right back," He said, giving Lorelai a quick kiss on the cheek as he walked back to his car.

Rory and Lorelai watched Luke pull out and then went inside, moving to sit on the couch.

"So, did you have a good time today?" Lorelai asked her daughter. "I know this isn't exactly what you wanted-"

"No mom, everything was perfect. I wouldn't change a thing." Rory said sincerely.

"Rory, you don't have to pretend like you're not upset that your father didn't show up-"

"I'm not upset. I'm glad I got to dance with Luke. He's done a better job at being my dad anyways. I already told Luke that I was glad it was him."

"You did?" Lorelai asked, smiling.

"Yeah, why, should I not have? It freaked him out, didn't it? I knew I shouldn't have said anything-"

"No, baby, he didn't tell me anything about it. But I know he feels the same way about you, too."

"How?" Rory asked.

"He talks about you like I talk about you, Rory. We all know that I'm your biggest fan but Luke's giving me a run for my money, kid. He's been like that since before we started dating, you know. He's always known how great you are. I'm surprised he doesn't keep a picture of you in his wallet so he can brag about you." Lorelai chuckled.

"Mom, can I ask you something? You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

"Anything."

"This… this is different from Max, right?"

"Completely different," Lorelai answered without even thinking.

"How?" Rory asked.

"I don't know if I ever really loved Max, sweetie. I loved that Max loved me. I loved that he loved you. But I never really felt like 'Wow, Max is such an important piece of my life. I don't know what I'd do without him,' you know?"

"And you feel like that about Luke?"

"Yeah, I do." Lorelai admitted softly.

"Me too."


	17. Chapter 17

The sharp ring of forks clanging awkwardly off of plates was the only sound to travel through the Gilmore Mansion at the tail-end of Friday Night Dinner the week following Rory's debutante ball. Emily was the first to break the silence.

"Richard, didn't you have some books in the study that you wanted to show to Rory?"

"I believe I did. Are you finished with your dessert, Rory? I have some first edition Bronte's that I think you'd love to take a look at," Richard answered.

"Oh absolutely!" Rory said enthusiastically, taking her grandfather's arm as he led her to the study.

"So, Lorelai," Emily started as soon as Rory and Richard were out of earshot.

"Mom," Lorelai answered.

"I think it's time we had a little talk about the man situation."

"It's not really a situation, Mom. I have a boyfriend and we're very happy together."

"And what does this boyfriend do?"

"He owns a restaurant."

"What kind of a restaurant?"

"Why does it matter?"

"It doesn't matter, unless you're ashamed to tell me."

"I'm not ashamed to tell you, I just know that you aren't going to be thrilled about me dating a man who owns a diner."

"Diner… is this the same man who brought you to the hospital when Richard had his heart attack? The man who brought ice to Rory's birthday party?"

"That would be the one."

"Oh," Emily said, suddenly going silent much to the surprise of her daughter.

"Mom… you okay over there? Your rants don't normally take this long to formulate."

"I don't like this situation one bit."

"Ah, there it is."

"I think you could do much better than him, and I think he could do much better than running the local greasy spoon. Is he spending nights with you?"

"That's kind of personal mom, but no."

"That's good. I'm afraid for Rory to get hurt."

"I was too, at first," Lorelai admitted, much to Emily's shock. "But Luke has always cared about Rory, and he always will care about Rory, even if we aren't together. Not that I see a future in which we aren't together, but it's important to me that Rory has people, you know? People who aren't going to walk out on her."

"So you're going to cut her off from Christopher?"

"No, Mom, why would you even say that? Rory's relationship with Christopher is 100% up to her. If she tells me she doesn't want to see him anymore, we won't, and if she tells me she wants us to move down to Boston to be closer to him, then I'd figure it out. I'm never going to try to take Rory away from Christopher, not that Christopher needs much help in that department."

"Well that was a very harsh thing to say," Emily chided.

"She's going to be 16 in October and the last time he saw her she was 12. She had braces for three years and he didn't see them once."

"I hardly see why you're so upset about the braces, I have photographs if you'd like to-"

"It's not about the braces, mom. I'm just saying that Christopher isn't putting in as much effort as I think he could be, and Luke has always put in effort, even when he didn't have to."

Emily pursed her lips before responding. "I'm not happy with the situation and I won't pretend to be.'

"When have you ever?" Lorelai asked rhetorically.

"However, I fear there's nothing I can do about this one… you and the diner man have something special. I don't think I could pull you two apart if I tried."

"Are you saying you're not going to try?"

"Not for now anyway. Bring him to dinner next week and I'll see if I can find something to be angry about."

"Oh...well… uh… thank you?" Lorelai said, obviously confused.

"You're welcome, Lorelai. Sorry to keep you this late. Would you like another cup of coffee?"

"Uh, no mom, I'm good."

"Alright, I'll have Angela grab your jacket if you don't mind collecting Rory from your father's study."

"Ah, nope, I can collect her," Lorelai said, retrieving her daughter and taking her coat from Angela before getting back into the Jeep and driving towards home. After a few silent minutes, Rory spoke up.

"Mom, what is up with you right now? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I'm just really confused."

"About…"

"Mom… isn't mad that I'm dating Luke."

"Really? That's great! We should be celebrating, why aren't we celebrating?"

"This is just so foreign!" Lorelai answered. "I need coffee to clear my head."

"And you want to see your boooy-frieeend." Rory teased.

"Hey, I just want to remind you that I have complete jurisdiction to ruin your life if I wanted to."

"Yeah, but we both know you wouldn't dream of it!"

"Anyway, maybe I do want to see my boyfriend. Do you want to come with me or do you want me to drop you off at home?"

"You can just drop me at home. Grandpa gave me a first edition copy of _Jane Eyre_ and I'm really excited to read it."

"Sweetie, you've already read _Jane Eyre_ eight times."

"Yes, but this is a different version."

"Is Jane still ugly?"

"Yes."

"Does the wife still try and burn the house down?"

"Well, yes."

"Does the healing power of love still cure Mr. Rochester's blindness?"

"I mean, yes but-"

"Then it's the same version."

Rory laughed. "Please just drop me at home, Mommy dearest."

"Whatever you say, sweets," Lorelai said, pulling into the driveway of their home. "Don't throw any huge parties while I'm gone, there's only enough liquor in the house for like 10 people." Lorelai called to her daughter as she ascended the steps.

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Love you,"

"Love you too, go talk to your boyfriend."

"Sh!" Lorelai chided her daughter before pulling out of the driveway and driving the short distance from her home to Luke's. She walked into the diner and saw Luke's back, he was leaning over the counter with a calculator and paper. The bells on the door dinged to alert the room of her entrance.

"Kitchen's closed," Luke called without turning around.

"Oh, darn!" Lorelai said, and Luke almost immediately turned around and began to close the distance between them. "Now I'm going to have to go make out with Al from Al's Pancake World, or maybe Joe from Teriyaki Joe's-"

"Don't you even think about it," Luke whispered, closing the distance completely by pulling her into him by her waist and putting his lips over hers. She ran her fingers through the curls that spilled out of the back of his cap and kissed him just as passionately. They broke apart and looked at each other.

"Well, I got my fix, I'll see you tomorrow," Lorelai teased, walking towards the door, but Luke pulled her back by the hand.

"How was dinner?" He asked, rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand.

He knew that she was nervous to go, especially considering the unceremonious way Lorelai had been forced to announce that they were dating to her parents at the ball. He looked into her eyes for answers.

"It was surprisingly not awful. She made it very clear that she doesn't approve, but she said that she could tell that we have something special going on here and she wasn't going to meddle with that, at least for now."

"Something special, huh?"

"Yeah, that's what she said… and for the record, I think we have something special, too."

"I concur." Luke said, kissing her cheek.

"So are you ready for the bad news?"

"There's bad news?"

"She wants you to come to dinner next week."

"Oh, okay. I'll be there."

"Luke, do you know what you're getting yourself into here?"

"Yes, I'm going to have dinner with your parents." Luke said plainly.

"No, no, no. You're going to be _flagellated_ by my parents."

"Okay, well, let them flagellate for a couple of hours. I can't not meet your parents, Lorelai."

"Are you sure? Because I, for one, would love to have not met my parents."

"Lorelai, I'm serious about this relationship. I meant it when I said I was all in. I'm in it for the good parts or the bad parts. At least, I want to be…" he said, suddenly realizing that maybe Lorelai was trying to tell him that there was a different reason that she didn't want him to meet her parents. "I mean, if that's what you want. I just want you to be happy. If you want to pretend like the last couple months haven't happened and go back to what it was like before it's completely-"

"Baby, baby, slow down. That's not what I want at all," she said, grabbing his hand and making eye contact with him. "That's the exact opposite of what I want."

"Well...good. Do you want a cup of coffee?"

"Wow, okay, um, have we met? Hi, I'm Lorelai, and the very first thing you should know about me other than my name is that 100% of the time, I would like a cup of coffee. Even if I'm already holding a cup of coffee you can just go ahead and pour a second one and I guarantee I will get to it before it gets cold."

"I'm sorry I even asked," he teased, smiling as he poured her a mug and slid it in her direction.


	18. Chapter 18

A few days later, Lorelai and Luke sat in the living room of Lorelai's place, watching a movie. Rory was at the library, studying, and Luke was starting to get nervous about her walking home.

"It's pretty dark out there, are you sure she'll be okay?" Luke asked Lorelai.

"Lane's with her. Not to mention she could probably walk to the library in her sleep."

"I'm not worried about her getting lost, I'm worried about everything and everyone else out there who doesn't care if she gets home safe."

"I'm sure she's fine." Lorelai said, trying to calm him. Luke tried to settle down when they heard a knock on the door. "That's probably her now," Lorelai said, standing to answer the door and leaving Luke on the couch. She opened the door to reveal Max, much to her surprise. She stepped outside and shut the door behind her. "Leave." she told him resolutely.

"Lorelai," Max began to plead

"Max, go. I meant it when I told you to go."

"Lorelai, please. Talk to me, give me a second chance."

"Why, Max? Why should I give you a second chance? You don't get a second chance when you hurt my daughter like that."

"We all make mistakes, Lorelai. You've hurt Rory too, I'm sure."

"Go, now." Luke said from the doorway, and they both turned their heads in surprise. Neither had heard him open the door.

"Oh, so you're sleeping with the diner guy now?" Max accused, going from upset to angry. "Is that how it goes? You dump me and rush to the next warm body? Or, tell me, were you with him while we were together? He always did seem to have a special interest in you and Rory." Max growled.

"I can't believe you would even accuse me of something like that. Did you have that little trust in me while we were together?"

"Well, Lorelai, I always knew you were a woman of questionable morals. You don't exactly get pregnant at 16 otherwise."

"Leave, right now." Luke said angrily. Lorelai could tell he was doing everything in his power not to punch Max.

"For the record, Luke has a 'special interest' in Rory and I because he cares about us, something that you might not be familiar with," Lorelai spat.

"Oh sure, I'm sure he just loves having to worry about whether or not the kid's going to be around when he's looking for a quick lay.. I'm sure he loves carting her back and forth from the mall. I'm sure he loves hearing about all the teenage girl drama. I'm sure he loves knowing that someone else got to you first. Don't get me wrong, Rory's smart, sure, but nobody is excited about their girlfriend's kid. She's not as charming as you'd like to believe." Max sneered.

"That's it, I'm calling the police," Luke said, retreating into the house for the phone.

"I'd go now, Max. " Lorelai said, trying once more to give him an out.

Instead, Max grabbed Lorelai by the wrist and pulled her into a kiss, which she squirmed out of as quickly as possible.

"Mom!" Rory yelled, clearly confused by the situation.

"Go, Now!" Lorelai yelled at Max, who finally heeded her advice. Rory ran up to the porch.

"Baby, how much did you hear?" Lorelai asked, smoothing her daughter's hair.

"You know, snippets," Rory answered softly, starting to cry a little as she sat down next to her mother on their porch swing. Luke came back onto the porch, holding the phone.

"Sorry Officer. He's gone. Yeah. Talk to you tomorrow." Luke hung up the phone. "Rory, when did you get home?" he asked concernedly, sitting next to them.

"Um, a few minutes ago," She sniffled.

"Oh, Rory." He said, putting a hand on her back and rubbing circles on it.

"It just… it doesn't even matter, but...I thought he cared about us."

"I know, baby." Lorelai consoled her.

"I can't believe he said all that. And then he kissed you! After all of that he still…" Rory went on, but Luke shot Lorelai a concerned look over Rory's head. Lorelai gave him a look back, a look that said "We'll talk about this later." They had to focus on Rory right now.

"Sweets, let me go inside and get you a glass of water," Lorelai said, leaving Rory with Luke.

"Sorry that I'm such a mess." Rory said, sitting up and turning to look at Luke.

"Don't apologize," Luke said, wiping a stray tear off her face with his thumb. "And you should know that none of what he said was true. I _do_ love carting you back and forth from the mall," he said, and Rory chuckled. "Rory, you're a really good kid. I enjoy spending time with you. That guy's an idiot if he can't see what an awesome person you are."

"Thanks, Luke, but you don't have to-"

"I'm not. Have I ever lied to you?"

"Does giving Mom decaf count as a lie?"

"No."

"Then I guess not." Rory said, sniffling again.

"Let's go inside and get you cleaned up. It's getting pretty late, you must be exhausted.

"Okay. Thanks dad." Rory said, and she blushed, realizing it had slipped out but not correcting herself. She slipped inside in front of Luke, disappearing into her bedroom before he could react.

Later that night, once Rory was asleep, Luke and Lorelai sat on the bed in Lorelai's room. Neither of them knew how to start the conversation, but eventually Luke burst.

"He kissed you?"

"Yes, not that the conversation we were having gave him any sort of indication that that would've been a good idea."

"I can't believe it, I was gone for one second-"

"I think you being gone was a big part of it."

"God, Lorelai. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left you alone with him."

"It's fine, Luke. You didn't do anything wrong. You can't protect us from everything, you know."

"Don't say that," Luke murmured.

"Luke, I'm fine. I didn't want to kiss Max, but he didn't hit me. I'm okay. Are you?"

"I hate that he said those things about you. 'A woman of questionable morals,'" Luke repeated, scoffing. "That just makes me mad, you know? The fact that he'd insinuate that you're any less worth loving as a person because you had a kid-"

He realized at this point that Lorelai was staring at her shoes and not looking up at him. "Tell me you don't believe him." He said, looking at her.

"I know he's wrong." She said noncommittally.

"Oh, Lorelai. Look at me."

He looked up at her, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes.

"It's not… just because of what he said. People look at you different when you have a kid at my age, you know? People in Stars Hollow have all gotten over it by now, and I've gotten more used to letting it roll off my shoulders as she got older, but with her starting Chilton, it's kind of all gotten started up again, and it's just really hard… People think less of me, Luke."

"No they don't."

"They do, Luke. Especially at Chilton. The children of single mothers who got pregnant out of wedlock aren't typically Chilton types."

"The reason that Rory _is_ a Chilton type is because of her single mother who got pregnant out of wedlock," Luke reminded her.

"The kid's got her grandfather's genes."

"She's got your genes, Lorelai. She's exactly like you in every way. It scares me how alike you two are. Would you ever let Rory feel the way you feel right now?'

"No," Lorelai answered meekly.

"Exactly, you wouldn't let her feel this badly about herself because there's nothing to feel badly about. I wish…" Luke said, but then he started to trail off.

"What?" Lorelai asked.

"I wish you could see yourself the way I saw you. You're a light, Lorelai, you know that? Every person you meet is better for having known you. You make things...better. When you walk into a room I'm calmer. You're smart, you're funny… You're so much more than other people's opinions of you."

Lorelai just smiled, changing her position on the bed so that she could kiss him. The kiss started slowly, and was ramping up to become more heated when Luke pulled away.

"Lorelai," he murmured, and she pulled back. "Sorry, I just… needed to tell you something."

"Anything, what is it?" Lorelai asked, a bit nervously.

"Rory called me dad tonight." he told her. "I don't want you to think that I'm trying to make her turn on Christopher or-"

"Luke, Rory's relationship with Christopher has always been between her and Christopher. I've tried my best to let that be her thing, regardless of where my relationship with Christopher stood. How do _you_ feel about her calling you dad?" Lorelai asked genuinely.

"Lorelai, it's no secret that I love Rory."

"Well sure. But loving Rory and wanting to be Rory's dad are a lot different. It's okay if-"

"No, Lorelai. I do. It felt...right. I'm proud to know her. I'm proud to have played a part in making her the person she is. I'd be proud to be her dad. But with all of that said...it's a little terrifying. Of course, I've always wanted to keep her safe, and healthy, but now I'm worried about all of this other stuff. I don't want to disappoint her, or screw her up, or fail her, or-"

"Welcome the eternal loop that's played in my brain every moment since I found out I was pregnant."

"No wonder you drink all that coffee… you must be exhausted." He teased.

"She makes it pretty easy. It'd be a lot harder if I had to worry about her doing coke or something. Her "wild Saturday night" is spent at the library, and ends at 11:00, so I'm pretty lucky in that regard."

"She's a great kid."

"Best I ever had," Lorelai smiled.


	19. Chapter 19

As Luke, Lorelai and Rory walked up to the stoop of the Gilmore mansion, Luke checked his hair in the window one more time, and Lorelai moved to tighten his tie. Rory pressed the doorbell and turned to look at them.

"Mom, you're going to suffocate him."

"Oh, I think my mother will do a perfectly fine job of that," Lorelai said, straightening the tie one more time as the door swung open, revealing a new maid. "Hi, I'm Emily's daughter, this is Luke and Rory." Lorelai introduced them as she handed her coat over to the maid. "I promise we're nicer than she is," Lorelai said, and they both knew that she was referring to Emily.

"Richard, the girls and Lucas are here," Emily called as she came down the stairs, and Rory walked over to give her grandmother a hug. Luke and Lorelai followed behind her.

"Hi Grandma," Rory said.

"Hello dear, how are you?"

"I'm doing well, how are you?"

"Just lovely dear. Hello Lorelai," Emily said.

"Hi mom," Lorelai responded.

"Well, you must be Lucas then." Emily said.

"Luke is fine. It's good to meet you Mrs. Gilmore." Luke said, extending his hand.

"You as well, Lucas," Emily responded as she shook his hand politely. Just then, Richard came bounding down the stairs.

"There's my girls!" He said boisterously.

"Hi Grandpa!" Rory greeted her grandfather excitedly, making her way over to him as he came down the stairs

"Good evening, Rory, can I get you a drink?" He asked as he crossed the room to shake Luke's hand.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I completely forgot, how unlike me. Lucas, would you like a beer? Lorelai, what can I get you?"

"A beer's perfect," Luke said.

"I'll have a vodka tonic," Lorelai responded, and Emily made their drinks while Richard poured Rory a club soda.

"Thank you, Grandpa," Rory said as she took her soda and sat down on the couch next to Luke, her mother sitting on the other end.

"So, Rory, how's school?" Emily asked as she settled into her seat.

"School is pretty good. Midterms are coming up so that's a bit stressful," she admitted.

"I'm sure you'll do wonderfully." Richard told her.

"She's been studying non-stop." Luke piped in.

"I haven't been studying that much," Rory tried to deflect.

"When Rory wants something, she works hard for it, although I'm sure I don't need to tell you that," Luke followed up.

"Well, what she tackles, she conquers." Richard agreed.

"No pressure you guys," Rory teased.

"They're right, Rory, I'm sure you'll do wonderfully. You're very bright. But we can talk about something else. Lucas, what do you do?" Emily interjected

"I own a diner in town."

"Oh, how nice. It's clean, I assume?" Emily asked.

"Mom!" Lorelai admonished.

"Just a question," Emily said plainly.

"Yes, it's a clean diner. Very family-friendly kind of place," Luke answered.

"A successful diner?" Richard asked.

"Dad!"

"Well, Lorelai, it's just a question."

"Not to toot my own horn, but it's a successful business. Pays the bills, I have everything I need." He answered simply.

"Dinner is served, Mrs. Gilmore," the maid said after stepping into the room.

"Alright well, let's eat then," Emily said, gesturing for everyone to move into the dining room.

Lorelai gestured for Luke to take the seat next to her, and they all sat down as the maids brought out a pork roast and a medley of different vegetables to the table. Luke could tell that Lorelai was tense, and he couldn't blame her. He was tense, too. He put a hand on her thigh and rubbed circles with his thumb. Whether it was to calm him or her, he wasn't sure. Dishes were passed around the table and after a moment they had all started eating.

"So Lorelai, how are things at the inn?" Richard asked after a moment.

"Good, Dad. Things are starting to drop off a little bit where most of the foliage has peaked already, but we always pick back up around the holidays, so I'm not really worried about it."

"Have you been anywhere exotic lately?" Rory asked her grandfather.

"Nothing in the past month or so, but next week I leave to spend a few days in Milan. Next month I'll spend a week in Akron, which is far from exotic."

"Milan sounds fun," Lorelai commented as a maid came out to clear dinner.

"Your mother loves the gifts I bring back from Milan," Richard teased his wife, "But if you don't care for fashion it isn't exactly exciting. Amazing food though, and the wine is excellent." Richard responded as the maid brought out slices of cheesecake for dessert.

"You can just go ahead and bring Rory and I seconds now," Lorelai joked with the maid.

"Actually Mom, I'm stuffed."

"I can't believe I actually just heard you say that you don't want cheesecake. Are you okay? Who are you, and what did you do with my kid?"

"It's not that I don't _want_ cheesecake. I'm just full from dinner. The cauliflower was really good."

"I can't believe that my daughter filled up on cauliflower." Lorelai remarked, looking at Luke. "Did you put her up to this?" She asked, teasing.

"I didn't put her up to anything. If me occasionally trying to get the two of you off of red meat and french fries finally rubbed off on her, I'm not complaining."

"Don't these girls eat just dreadfully?" Emily remarked.

"I try to slip a fruit or vegetable onto the plate when they're not looking," Luke joked, getting a small smile from Emily.

"He actually makes vegetables taste good," Lorelai remarked.

"Well, the man does own a diner, I'd certainly hope he's able to make edible food."

"His food is excellent, Mom." Lorelai said defensively.

"Although I can't imagine it's very healthy."

"Well, I get so sick of making the unhealthy food for the diner that I've gotten pretty good at making healthy food for myself. I've been trying to get them to eat it, but they're very stubborn," he teased.

"Oh, when they're Gilmores, it's not being stubborn, it's being headstrong!" Richard corrected.

"Well, they're incredibly headstrong."

"Luke, why don't we give the ladies a moment to gossip. Can I interest you in a cigar or a brandy?"

"A brandy would be great, sir," Luke said as he stood from his place at the table and kissed Lorelai's head quickly before following Richard to the study. As soon as they heard the door click shut, Lorelai spoke up.

"What are they doing in there?" She asked urgently.

"I imagine they're having a brandy."

"Is Luke going to come out of there crying?"

"Well that depends, how easy is it to make the man cry?"

"Mom!"

"Lorelai, I don't know what they're talking about. Believe it or not, your father don't meet up and discuss how to most efficiently ruin things for you."

"Huh," Lorelai said.

Meanwhile, Richard had led Luke into his office and shut the door behind them, moving to a small cabinet behind his desk and retrieving the bottle of brandy and the appropriate glasses.

"Please, have a seat," Richard urged Luke, and he complied. "Now, Luke… you've given me no reason not to like you."

"Good start," Luke remarked.

"Lorelai and Rory are very special young women." Richard continued.

"Incredible, both of them." Luke agreed.

"They are...incredible young women. Please don't waste their time. If this isn't something you're serious about-"

"It is." Luke spoke over him.

"Or if it isn't something you think you can do- keep them happy, keep them safe- break it off sooner rather than later. It takes a special man to be with a Gilmore. I pray you'll think that over."

"Yes sir," Luke said, swallowing a lump in his throat as his brain rushed with so many thoughts it made him dizzy.

If there was one thing Lorelai Gilmore wasn't used to, it was silence. But Luke had given total radio silence since he disappeared into her father's study, and Rory was too absorbed in a textbook in the backseat to notice. When they pulled back into Lorelai and Rory's home in Stars Hollow, Lorelai quickly thought of an excuse to get Luke alone.

"Rory, you go ahead inside. I left a sweater in the diner this morning, I'm going to go back with Luke and get it."

"Okay, goodnight Luke," Rory said as she got out of the car.

"Goodnight Rory. Give your eyes a break, you can study more tomorrow."

"I'll take a break when I'm dead," she teased as she unlocked the door and stepped inside.

Luke sighed and looked at the steering wheel. "I could just bring you your sweater tomorrow."

"There's no sweater. Drive."

"If there's no sweater why do I need to drive?"

"Because we need to talk."

"Still not seeing why we need to drive."

"Because I told Rory we were going to the diner."

"You're crazy," he told her as he turned the car back on and pulled out of her driveway.

"What did my father say to you that has you all messed up?"

"I'm not all messed up."

"You were completely silent for 45 minutes. Do you have any idea how unnerving it is for me to hear complete silence for 45 minutes?"

"Do I make you happy?" Luke asked suddenly and powerfully.

"What?" Lorelai asked, shocked and confused

"It's just… you're so vibrant, and fun, and you like to, I don't know, do things. You love all the festivals, and I've made it very clear that I don't. It's the same way for town meetings. You just bring this energy to things that I don't have… Can you be happy with me tagging along for all of that?"

"Luke…" Lorelai said softly. "Of course you make me happy. I am so, so happy right now. I mean, not right at this moment, because you're clearly hurt and that makes me pissed and sad… but you make me happy, Luke. You keep me grounded. You support me in things that annoy the hell out of you because they make me happy."

"I just don't want to hold you back." Luke admitted.

"Luke, you're the reason I can move forward. Being able to lean on you, having the trust that I have in you is what gives me the confidence I have. I know you're going to be there for me even if I fail miserably."

"I hardly see any evidence that you'll fail miserably at anything you put your mind to. You're a very stubborn woman."

"Ah, I believe we agreed to use the word headstrong." She said, scooting over in the bucket seat of his car to kiss him on the cheek. "Oh, and please don't ever rub my thigh like that at my parents house again, because I really wanted to kiss you but in a way that would've been incredibly inappropriate."

"I'll keep that in mind, he laughed, moving his hand to her thigh again.


	20. Chapter 20

"Those jeans are really working for you," Luke muttered under his breath to Lorelai as she sat at the counter drinking her coffee. Their relationship had by some miracle of God still been kept a secret from the prying townies of Stars Hollow, but it was getting harder and harder every day for Luke and Lorelai not to slip up.

"Yeah?" Lorelai egged him on, batting her eyelashes as she extended her coffee cup for a refill.

"They're working for me, too."

Lorelai let out a soft gasp. "You're flirting with me."

"Something like that."

"Finally, do it some more."

"That's all I can do right now. People are watching."

"Okay," Lorelai said disappointedly.

"But tonight I will give you my extremely positive views on other aspects of your being."

"Tonight?"

"Are you free?"

"Yeah, I'm free."

"Good. 7:30."

"What are we going to do?"

"I've got some thoughts."

"So...what do we say?"

"Say?"

"To people...to the town. Do we tell them that we're dating?

"I don't know. Do we? Are you...ready?"

"I'm ready to stop sneaking around. I want you to be able to tell the whole diner when you think my ass looks phenomenal in these jeans, which it totally does, by the way."

"I wouldn't count on that." He glanced at her, and she smiled. She knew he wasn't big into PDA but it was fun to tease.

"I want to stop sneaking around, but it feels very middle school to like...make it a big deal, you know? I mean, it's a big deal to us, or at least to me-"

"To us." he corrected her.

"Right, it's a big deal to us, but not really to everybody else."

"So why don't we just stop sneaking around… they'll find out when they find out. We can play it by ear."

"That sounds…good," Lorelai smiled, which in turn made Luke smile. "I've got to get to work… should I kiss you goodbye?" She asked, now confused.

"If you kiss me goodbye the whole town will know before you make it to the inn."

"Too much too fast," Lorelai decided, smiling at him again. "I'll see you tonight?"

"Tonight." He smiled as he put the lid on a to-go cup of coffee for her, handing it to her as she walked out of the diner.

Later that night, Luke was pouring Lorelai a cup of coffee. The diner had long since closed, and Luke and Lorelai had just returned from dinner.

"You're going to be up all night," Luke warned as he pushed her the cup of coffee.

"I'll just have the one cup. It shouldn't keep me awake."

"Glad you've built up a tolerance." he remarked with a sarcastic smirk.

"So…" Lorelai smiled.

"So?" Luke inquired.

"The jeans still working for you?" she asked.

"They're still working." He confirmed, looking into her eyes.

"Why don't you see if they work while I walk up the stairs." She grinned, moving to walk up to the apartment as Luke followed. When they got up to the door, Lorelai turned around. "Do they still work?"

Luke couldn't take it for another moment. He put his hands on her waist and guided her back a step, pushing her gently into the door and moving her hair so he could whisper in her ear.

"They still work," he whispered, then passionately kissing her neck.

Lorelai responded almost immediately, moving her head to give him more access and wrapping her arms around his neck. He moved to kiss her lips and she reacted immediately, matching his passion as soon as she was given the chance. Luke's hands moved from Lorelai's waist down to her bottom, pulling her closer. He removed his hands, causing Lorelai to look up.

"Gotta open the door," Luke explained breathlessly as the door swung open and they stumbled into the apartment.

"You said you had some positive views on the other aspects of my being that you'd like to share?" Lorelai asked before kissing Luke again.

"Yes," he growled. "You should know that I don't like the jeans because of how good they make your ass look," he said, moving to unbutton them. "It's because of how amazing your legs are," he said as he pulled her jeans down to her ankles. He grasped her wrists to help her step out of her jeans and heels without tripping. Lorelai unbuttoned Luke's shirt as he led her to the bed and she let herself fall into his mattress. He climbed over her and started to push the edge of her blouse up. He ran his fingers slowly over the curve of her waist and settled on her hip. "Beautiful," he whispered as he kissed her soft skin. "I can hardly look at you when you come into the diner. I can't look at you and not think about how beautiful you are. I can't not think about how much I want you."

"Luke-"

"No, let me talk this time. Let me ramble. Let me." Luke pleaded.

"Okay," Lorelai murmured.

Luke pulled one of her brown curls and twisted it around his finger. "This is my favorite hairstyle on you. I absolutely love running my fingers through your hair. When I kiss you… your hair's just so soft." He said, kissing her neck again. "And speaking of kissing… your lips… sometimes you talk so fast that I can't even try to keep up, but your lips… they're distracting. I just want to-" Lorelai interrupted him by crashing her aforementioned lips into his.

"Yeah," Luke smiled down at her, and Lorelai looked back up at him, beaming just as large. "God, Lorelai, you have the most intense eyes I've ever seen. They're just so blue. Between those eyes and that pout, I'm shocked that I can ever say no to you."

"Luke, you never say no to me." Lorelai teased.

"Case in point."

"Luke, I need you." She told him.

"I'm right here," he said, leaning down to kiss her again.


	21. Chapter 21

Luke walked over to the table in the diner where Lorelai and Rory were sitting and poured them their after-school cups of coffee.

"Hi Luke," Rory said as she pulled her mug towards her.

"Hey kid, how was your day?" Luke asked Rory as he poured Lorelai's cup.

"It was pretty good, how was yours?"

"Not bad," Luke said. "I should be done here in a couple of hours."

"Are you coming over straight after work?" Lorelai asked.

"Yeah, probably. Why don't you pick up some stuff from the grocery store and I'll make dinner tonight."

"What do you want me to pick up?"

"Whatever pops out at you. I've gotta get back into the kitchen but I'll see you tonight," he said, kissing the top of Lorelai's head quickly before heading back to work.

"Mom, he just-"

"I know, I was there!"

Rory looked around. "I don't think anyone saw."

"We agreed to stop sneaking around," Lorelai told her daughter. "You know, we'd just sort of do what we wanted and let the town find out as life went on, but it's just surprising, you know? That was pretty bold."

"Well, I'm glad you're not hiding it anymore. I haven't even told Lane yet! It's starting to wear on me," she teased.

"Yeah, I think we were all ready to be done with that," Lorelai concurred.

"So is Luke going to be spending the night now?" Rory asked, and Lorelai nearly spat out her coffee.

"What?"

"Well, you've been dating for a few months now and he hasn't spent the night once, or at least he's always gone by the time I wake up. I kind of assumed that you didn't want anyone to see his truck parked out front in the morning and jump to conclusions."

"Honestly, sweetheart, Luke's never spent the night because I didn't know how you felt about it," Lorelai admitted to her daughter.

"What? Mom, you know I love Luke."

"Yes, of course. I love that you love Luke. But loving Luke and waking up to Luke in the kitchen making coffee before you've even gotten a chance to wash your face or brush your teeth is a different thing entirely."

"Mom, I think it's pretty fair to say that Luke has already seen me at my worst." Lorelai didn't respond for a moment, not liking having to think about the awful situations Luke had pulled her daughter out of. Rory spoke again, pulling her mother out of her reverie. "I want Luke to spend the night if that's what you want. I want you and Luke to have a normal relationship. You make each other happy. I want you to keep making each other happy." Lorelai smiled again as Rory finished her cup of coffee. "You ready to go to the grocery store?" Rory asked as she put her mug down.

"Yeah, let's go," Lorelai said, waving to Luke from the kitchen as she headed out with her daughter and crossed the street to the grocery store.

"I still feel kind of bad that Dean got fired." Rory said softly.

"It had nothing to do with you," Lorelai reminded her daughter as she grabbed a basket for their groceries.

"He wouldn't go to work because Luke broke his nose."

"Yeah, well, he deserved to have his nose broken."

"I know, but still."

"How are you doing with all of that?" Lorelai asked, trying to keep it casual despite the weight of the topic.

"What do you mean?" Rory asked.

"I mean, how are you doing? Do you feel safe? Are people bothering you about it, are they spreading rumors?"

"I guess people are talking, but it doesn't really matter to be honest because I don't go to school here anymore. I mean they aren't embroidering an "A" onto my Chilton uniform or anything."

"And you feel safe?" Lorelai asked her daughter.

"Well… I have these nightmares sometimes."

"Oh, sweetie." Lorelai said, feeling her heart break for her daughter.

"They aren't that bad… but they're not exactly fun either. I feel better now that Luke changed the lock on the door." Rory admitted.

Lorelai squeezed her daughter's arm supportively. She wanted to help as much as possible but also wanted to give Rory as much space as she needed to grieve and process; striking the balance was difficult. She had to trust that her daughter knew that she could always come to Lorelai for anything, and wait to see if Rory used that to her advantage. As Lorelai walked by the meat counters, she asked Rory a question, trying to change the subject.

"Would you absolutely hate me if I suggested we try and eat healthy tonight?"

"I couldn't hate you if I tried. I'd definitely be confused, though."

"Well, Luke eats healthy-" Lorelai started, but Rory cut her off.

"Ugh, are you going to be one of those girls who just pretends to like everything their boyfriend likes? That's gross, and so not you."

"Did I do that with Max?" She asked her daughter pointedly.

"You read Proust," Rory offered as a counterpoint.

"I wanted to do that, it had nothing to do with Max. Regardless, I'm not saying we have to eat healthy food all the time. We don't even have to like it. But why don't we just try it? It can't hurt, and I think it'll make Luke happy."

"Well, as long as I don't have to like it," Rory teased as she helped her mother fill the basket.

A few hours later, Luke unlocked the door and came into the house to find Rory and Lorelai on the couch. Lorelai was sitting up with her feet on the coffee table, and Rory was laying across the couch, her head in Lorelai's lap and her knees pulled into her chest, with a blanket pulled over her. Lorelai was playing with her daughter's hair when she saw her boyfriend walk into the living room.

"Hey doll," She smiled, tilting her head up for a quick kiss, which he gladly returned.

"Hey," he smiled. "Is she asleep?" He asked.

"No, no, I'm awake," Rory said, groggily pulling herself out of her mother's lap. "Just a long day at school, didn't sleep very well last night," she said, trying to clear the gravelly tone out of her voice.

"You should stop drinking coffee if you can't sleep at night." He told her.

"But if I stop drinking coffee I won't be able to stay awake during the day." she whined.

"That's because you're an addict," he told her.

"Yes, yes, I'll check into Caffeinated Anonymous over winter break," she told him as she went to her bedroom to get changed into more comfortable clothes; she hadn't changed out of her Chilton uniform before collapsing onto the couch.

"Good, take your mother with you." He called after her.

"Hey, I am not an addict!"

"So if I were to tell you that starting right now, the diner is no longer serving coffee, you'd be absolutely okay with it?"

"Of course I would." She smirked at him as she stood up, and he folded his arms.

"Really?" he asked her, looking unconvinced.

"Of course," she answered, stepping closer to him and whispering in his ear. "I don't need the diner to make coffee when I have you here."

"Who says I'm going to make it for you?" He whispered back, allowing his hands to settle on her hips.

"I can think of a few ways to convince you," she whispered again as she placed her hands on either side of his face and led his lips to hers. He moved his hands from her hips to her waist, pulling her closer as his lips overtook hers passionately.

"That's not fair," he whispered and she giggled before kissing him again.

"Okay, I'll stop," she said breathlessly before stepping away, but Luke pulled her back for one final kiss.

"Unfortunately I think that's all I can take before I'd have to carry you upstairs myself. Should I start dinner?"

"Sure, everything's in the fridge."

Rory emerged from her bedroom, having changed into pajama pants and a t-shirt, and saw Luke gathering the ingredients they'd bought for dinner.

"Need any help?" She asked, leaning against her doorframe.

"Sure," he said, looking around for something for her to do. "Why don't you wash your hands and chop the carrots." He instructed, and she complied, washing her hands in the sink and walking over to the cutting board, where she began to slowly and painstakingly cut each individual carrot into pieces. Luke chuckled at her. "You've never chopped anything in your life, have you?" He asked, smiling at her.

"Sometimes, Mom and I cut the ends off of Twizzlers and use them as straws."

"So, no."

"What, that doesn't count?"

"Let me help you," he smiled at her, taking her hands and putting them over the knife. "If you put one finger over the top of the knife like this it gives you better control when you chop. Just keep your fingers away from the blade. Then, you just sort of-" he began to guide her hands through the chopping technique, cutting up several carrots more quickly than she had cut one. "Does that make sense?" He asked her.

"Yeah, thanks." She smiled, going back to the carrots.

"Did your mother buy salmon on purpose?" Luke asked Rory.

"Yeah," Rory answered.

"Does she know that _I_ eat salmon?"

"She's trying to do something nice for you," Rory over-exaggerated, realizing that he was missing the point of her mother's gesture.

"She didn't have to do that," he smiled.

"Hey, talk to her, not me."

"Are you really going to eat this?" He asked her.

"I promised Mom I'd try it, and in turn she promised me that we'd order a pizza if I hated it."

Luke chuckled and went back to preparing the fish. A few hours later, Lorelai was helping Luke clean up, and Rory was headed to the library to study with Lane for a few hours.

"See, Rory? Not all healthy food is bad." Luke told her.

"Man, I'm never going to live this down, am I?"

"Maybe next week I'll get you to try a salad."

"Bye, Luke," Rory teased.

"Hey, don't forget a jacket."

"I'll be fine,"

"Rory, put on a jacket, it's cold out now that the sun's gone."

"Geez, okay Dad," she said, emphasizing the word "dad" to tease him further. "Bye, Mommy." She said, kissing her on the cheek. "Bye Luke," she said, kissing him as well before heading out the door.

"I _like_ Daddy-Luke!" Lorelai teased.

"Oh, stop it." Luke rolled his eyes.

"No, I'm being serious. 'Rory, eat your vegetables, Rory, wear a coat!' You parented her more in the past hour than I ever have."

"Hey, you're a good mom. A really good Mom. Tease me all you want but don't pretend like you aren't an amazing mother to that little girl."

"She isn't so little anymore." Lorelai said sadly.

"Don't remind me."

"Stop cleaning, you cooked," Lorelai said, stepping in front of the sink and washing a pan.

"You okay?" Luke asked as he stepped out of her way.

"Yeah, of course I'm okay. Why wouldn't I be okay?"

"Well, you just volunteered to do housework, for starters."

Lorelai turned off the sink and turned around, putting her hands on the counter behind her to steady herself. She was looking up at the ceiling, and she let out a big sigh, making Luke nervous. He put his hands on her waist.

"Tell me what's wrong."

"Rory's having nightmares about Dean. Or had a nightmare. Or had nightmares. I don't know." Lorelai said, starting to cry.

She put her arms around Luke and he pulled her into him letting her cry into his chest as he rubbed her back. He hated this. Both of his girls were hurting and there was nothing he could do to help them. He wanted to keep them safe, and of course, they were safe, physically speaking, but there was nothing he could do to keep them from being fearful, and he couldn't blame them for feeling how they felt. In some ways, Luke himself feared for Rory, especially. Life had been quiet since Rory and Dean broke up, and Luke wanted to believe that it would stay that way, but he couldn't shake the nagging fear, and he could only imagine how much worse it was for Lorelai or Rory.

"Rory knows she can tell you everything. When she's ready to talk, she'll come to you. You've just got to give it time," Luke told Lorelai, continuing to rub her back.

"I know, it just sucks. I'm her parent. I'm the one who's supposed to protect her from everything, I'm supposed to keep her safe. She's scared and there's nothing I can do to help."

"I know. I don't like it either. But everything is okay. Rory is safe. You're safe. Everything is going to be fine."

Lorelai looked up at him, her eyes still watery. "Thank you," she told him.

He kissed her forehead. "Any time. I'll finish the dishes, you go get cleaned up."


	22. Chapter 22

Rory had come home a couple hours later, completely exhausted from her studying and lack of sleep the night before. She went straight to bed, and Lorelai and Luke had settled on the couch to watch a movie. Somewhere along the way, they'd fallen asleep, and Lorelai woke up to Luke carrying her up the stairs.

"Aw, it's like I'm eight years old again," she smiled at him.

"Go back to sleep," he said to her as he placed her in her bed. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"No, Luke. Stay." She said, reaching out to hold his hand.

"Rory-"

"She's okay with it. I talked to her."

"I don't have clothes to sleep in."

"Just take off your jeans. I have seen you without pants before, you know."

"You sure Rory's okay with this?"

"She's okay with it… Are you?" Lorelai asked, growing insecure as she realized that maybe Luke's concern for Rory was a cover.

Luke smiled at her. "Yes," he said, trying to assuage her fear as he pulled off his shoes and jeans and climbed into bed next to her. He put an arm around her waist and she settled up against his back just like they did when they slept at Luke's place.

"It's good to know that you sleep this close to me because you want to, and not because your teeny-tiny mattress necessitates it." Lorelai teased quietly.

"I told you I'd get a new bed if you wanted one."

"That would be silly. I'd have to find something else to mock if you got a new bed."

"Good night, crazy lady."

"Good night, doll."

Around 4 the next morning, Luke woke up feeling incredibly parched. Lorelai was asleep next to him, and he took a moment to appreciate the gentle rise and fall of her chest as the moonlight filtered in through the window. He kissed her gently, not wanting to wake her, and tiptoed out of the room and down the stairs to the kitchen. As he grabbed a glass from the cabinet, he thought he heard something, and he paused for a moment.

"No," he heard a voice murmur. "Don't touch me, get off of me. Get away!" The voice started to get louder, and Luke realized it was Rory. God, he'd locked the front and back door before he'd brought Lorelai to bed. Who could be in there? How could he have let her be this unsafe? He burst through the door and saw Rory laying in bed, alone. He was confused for a moment, until she started to yell again. "Please, don't hurt me! Stop! Don't touch me!"

"Rory, Rory, Rory," Luke said, going to her bed and trying to rouse her. Her eyes burst opened, and she was shocked to see Luke.

"Dad!" she gasped, bursting into tears

"You're okay." he told her. He responded to her crying immediately, wrapping his arms around her, and she lifted herself out of bed a little to wrap her arms around his neck and cry into his shoulder. Luke repositioned himself so that they were sitting on the bed and rubbed circles on her back, letting her cry, and running a hand through her hair.

"It's awful, Luke. It's so, so awful and I can't get it to stop."

"What, sweetheart. Tell me what's wrong and I'll fix it," Luke told her, wondering if something else had happened with Dean that he didn't know about.

"This dream!" she sobbed. "We're alone, and I know I shouldn't be alone with him but I can't get to the door, and then I try to leave, and he gets mad and-"

"Shh, shh." Luke says, not knowing if he wants her to stop because she's in hysterics or if it's because he can't bear to hear what happens next.

"I just want it to stop," Rory whispered, not sure if she was telling Luke or herself.

"I know, I know. We'll figure it out. I promise. I'm here, Rory. I'll be here as long as you need me."

Rory looked up at the ceiling and wiped the tears off of her face, trying to collect herself. She took a few deep breaths before she looked at Luke.

"I felt better tonight...with you here. Safer. Normally I toss and turn because I just don't...feel safe. I know I'm safe, logically. You changed the lock. Dean hasn't caused any trouble in months. But I just don't… feel safe. But I felt safe going to bed tonight. I knew you wouldn't let anything bad happen to me. It's nice… having a dad-kind-of-person."

"Well, for what it's worth… I like being your dad-kind-of-person."

"Thanks… I should probably get back to bed."

"You going to be okay?" He asked her.

"I should be. You going to be here when I wake up?"

"I should be."

"Goodnight, Luke."

"Goodnight, Rory."

* * *

The next morning was a blur of coffee brewing and bathroom-sharing, and Luke didn't have time to talk to Lorelai before he had to head out for the day. When Lorelai didn't come in for lunch, Luke started to get antsy. The bell on the door of the diner rang around 2 that afternoon, and Luke finally saw the customer he'd been waiting to see all day.

"Hey, Lorelai, can I talk to you upstairs?" Luke asked, meeting Lorelai in the middle of the diner before she'd even sat down.

"Oh, um, sure." She said, a little surprised. He whisked her up the stairs and into the apartment quickly before shutting the door behind her.

"I think Rory needs to see a therapist."

"Yes, well, I have subjected her to a fair deal of torment the past fifteen years-" Lorelai started, but Luke cut her off.

"No, Lorelai, I'm being serious. I went downstairs last night while she was having one of those dreams, and God, Lorelai, it scared me, and I wasn't even the one having the dream! I'm sorry if you think I'm overstepping because I probably am overstepping, because Rory is your kid and you've done a stellar job of raising her, but I care about her, too, and she's hurting, and we can't help her." Luke ranted, growing softer and sitting down at the edge of his bed towards the end. He put his elbows on his knees and tilted his head down, running his hands through his hair as he looked at the ground.

"Hey, look at me," Lorelai said softly and Luke peeked up. Lorelai pulled him into a long, slow kiss. "Please stop apologizing for caring about my daughter, for one." she said, sitting next to him and taking one of his hands in hers. "If you really think she needs to see a therapist, I'll talk to her about it. I'm not going to make her do it if she doesn't want to, but I'll talk to her about it." Lorelai told him. "So… you saw her having a dream? How did you-"

"I went downstairs to get a glass of water, and then I thought I heard a noise, and it was Rory, and she just kept saying things like 'No, don't touch me, get away, get off of me.' I thought somebody was in her room, so I ran in, but she was alone in bed so I was confused, but then she started screaming again, and I didn't know what to do, so I just woke her up, and then she started crying… so I just held her for a little while. It was awful, Lorelai. I couldn't do anything. She was so scared. She looked at me the same way she looked at me when I took the training wheels off of her bike… One of us could catch her before she fell off of her bike. I couldn't… I couldn't catch her."

Lorelai snuggled into Luke's arm and he reacted by wrapping it around her shoulders, pulling her into him.

"We can't catch her every time… This time we've got to give her the peroxide and the band-aid to clean up her knee." Lorelai told Luke.

"Peroxide hurts like a bitch." He remarked.

"Yes, but it keeps the wound from getting infected," Lorelai reminded him.


	23. Chapter 23

Luke and Lorelai were sitting next to each other in her bed around 8 that night. Lorelai was reading a book, and Luke was watching the evening news. Luke switched off the T.V and Lorelai peeked up at him over the rim of her reading glasses.

"Everything okay?" She asked.

"We ate salmon for dinner last night." Luke stated.

"Yep. We did." Lorelai affirmed, failing to find a deeper meaning in the conversation.

"Had you ever had salmon before?"

"Uh, I'm not sure. Maybe at my parents?"

"So you weren't sure that you liked it?" He probed.

"Luke, I like all your cooking." She smiled at him. "What's this about?"

"You know I picked _you,_ right?"

"I inferred, yes." She teased.

"I picked you. Junk food habit and all."

"Yeah, you love my junk food habit so much." She said sarcastically, placing a bookmark in her book and placing it on the nightstand so she could talk to him.

"I don't love it…" Luke admitted, running a hand through his hair. "But I don't want you to think you have to change for me." He told her, placing a hand on her thigh.

Lorelai smiled up at him. "I ate a pint of ice cream with Rory before you came over. I wasn't changing, I just wanted to do something nice for you. I know you hate the way we eat."

"It's not that I hate the way you eat, I just hate to think about how it could catch up to you. I hate to think of one of you having a heart attack or developing diabetes. I mean, diabetes isn't the worst thing in the world, you can manage it, but I want you healthy for as long as possible. When my parents were sick-"

"Oh, Luke." She said, putting her hand in his to comfort him.

"It was awful. They were so weak. The strongest people I'd ever met. They'd love you. You're just like my mom."

"Kind of weird if taken out of context, but I understand what you're trying to say," Lorelai said, falling back on humor as she always did.

"They were headstrong...just like you. They saw something, they wanted it, and they worked to get it. They were funny- more my mom than my dad, but she could get him going if she really wanted to."

"They sound a lot like another couple I know." Lorelai smiled, and Luke turned and kissed her temple.

"Yeah, they do."

"Do you think that's true of most people? That we end up with someone that reminds us of our parents, for better or for worse?"

"I don't know… maybe. I don't know if I want it to be true."

"Why not?"

"I mean, there are plenty of parents who shouldn't be parents. Even my sister, she could've been a great mom, but she keeps ending up with deadbeats… so nothing like my dad, at all. She's got a kid Rory's age. I certainly don't want to imagine Rory with someone like Christopher… or with anyone, for that matter." He added.

"She's not going to end up with someone like Christopher." Lorelai said confidently. "She's going to end up with someone like you."

"You think so?" Luke asked earnestly.

"I know so. You really don't realize how involved you are in that kid's life, do you?" Lorelai asked him genuinely.

"Everybody in town loves Rory. She's smart, she's sweet, she looks like she belongs on top of a Christmas tree." Luke deflected.

"All of those things are true. Rory is absolutely perfect and she's going to stay fifteen years old forever, she's never going to move out and we'll always be best friends who talk every day." Lorelai said, wanting to believe the hyperbolic part just as much as she believed Luke's statement. "But nobody in town loves her like you do. Except for me, of course."

"She's a good kid."

"In part because of you."

"I can't take too much credit. I mainly just made sure she was fed."

"That alone is a full-time job when dealing with a Gilmore… I hope she ends up with someone like you. Someone dependable, someone who keeps her safe."

"I thought she wasn't ever going to move out? I liked that plan better."

"I know, me too, but she's fifteen. Oh, god, I'm going to have to teach her how to drive."

"You're not teaching her how to drive," he said, getting out of bed to get changed into sweatpants.

"Why not?"

"Because you _regularly_ drive around town with a coffee in one hand and a donut in the other."

"Well, if I teach her how to drive without using her hands, her road test will just be _so_ much easier."

"I'll teach her how to drive," he said sternly.

"See! Nobody else in Stars Hollow would do that for her."

"Nobody else in Stars Hollow is dating her mother, I hope."

"So, just so I'm understanding this- all of my gentlemen callers from outside of Stars Hollow are still fair game?"

"Insufferable," he smirked.

"Besides, you would have done it for her even if we weren't dating, admit it."

"I would've," he said sheepishly. "Am I that predictable?"

"You're not predictable, you're dependable. It's a good thing. A thing Rory was lacking before we met you."

"You're dependable."

"Yes, but she didn't really know I was dependable. If I wasn't dependable, she'd have no one, and I'd never dream of letting her think she had no one, so my being dependable just became her neutral. You came into her life later, so you get the credit for doing something I've been doing all along. I'm totally not bitter, though." She teased.

"I'll have to make it up to you," he said, planting a soft kiss to her lips.

"Now, please," Lorelai whispered back to him as she pulled him back into bed.


	24. Chapter 24

Lorelai quietly stepped into Rory's room to find her sitting in bed reading a book. She hated that they were about to have another hard conversation-those seemed to be dominating their lives recently- but she knew she had to do this for Rory.

"Hey, kiddo, can I talk to you for a second?" Lorelai asked her daughter.

"Is everything okay?" Rory asked as she set her book on her end table.

"Yeah, everything's fine. I just want to talk to you," Lorelai assured her, sitting on the edge of her bed.

"What's going on?"

Lorelai took another deep breath and placed her hand on her daughter's leg. "Hon, would you consider seeing a therapist?"

"Mom, why-"

"I just… want you to heal, sweetheart. That's what we all want. I think a professional might help."

"I am healing," Rory said.

"It's okay to ask for help, Rory. Wouldn't you rather heal faster if you had the option?"

"I just don't know if I can talk to a stranger." Rory admitted, looking into her lap.

"You don't have to stick with it if it doesn't work for you." Lorelai assured her daughter. "But will you at least think about trying it?"

"I'll try it." Rory acquiesced immediately.

"You can think about it if you want-you don't have to say yes to make me happy."

"No, I'll try it… It was Luke's idea, wasn't it?"

"How'd you know?" Lorelai asked, surprised.

"You didn't talk to Grandma and Grandpa for a decade, so I figured talking through something wouldn't be your first solution to a problem."

"Fair, but Luke's not a big talker either."

"He's not a big talker but he cares a lot about both of us. He'd do anything to keep us safe. I know you would too, of course, but that's just how his brain works. He sees a problem and starts looking for the solution without necessarily thinking about the context."

"Is this what happens when you let your kid take AP Psych?" Lorelai teased.

"You'll be thanking me when I graduate college in three years because of all of these extra credits."

"Don't rush college. It's the best years of your life."

"How would you know?" Rory teased.

"Uh, I've turned on a television in my lifetime." Lorelai chuckled.

"I really scared him the other night, huh?" Rory asked sadly.

"Oh, sweetheart," Lorelai said, wanting to comfort her daughter but not knowing how.

"And that's why dad left, right? Dad left because he was afraid of me."

"Rory, sweetheart."

"And I'm over that, I really am. I never really knew him so I don't really feel like I have a Dad to miss. Or at least, I didn't."

Luke, moments earlier, had entered the house wordlessly, carrying coffee cups and a bag of groceries with which he had been planning to make dinner. Once he heard Rory's voice, the plans were put on hold. He knew it was wrong to be eavesdropping, but he could tell Rory was upset and he had to make sure he wasn't the cause of it. The last thing he wanted was to hurt Rory.

"But, now Luke's here, and he's a bigger part of our lives, and I just don't want to scare him away too. I would have a dad to miss if he left."

"Rory, you didn't scare Christopher away. I gave him an out and he left."

"Do you really think he would have left if there wasn't a kid in the picture?"

"Rory, you can't play that "what-if" game. It's not fair to you to think about what Christopher would have done, or to think about what Luke theoretically might do-"

"It's more than theoretical," Rory said, starting to get more emotional. "Dad got scared, and he left. I scared Luke. I don't blame him for being scared. I'm a handful. I care way too much about school. I don't eat enough vegetables. I wake up in the middle of the night crying."

Luke couldn't take it anymore and he swung open the door. "I'm sorry because I know this makes it look like I was eavesdropping, which to be fair I sort of was, but not intentionally. Regardless, I need you to stop talking about yourself like that because it's killing me." Luke rambled, looking at Rory.

Rory and Lorelai were both sufficiently confused, and looked at each other to communicate as much. Luke was still standing in the doorway, confused as to what to do next. After a moment, Lorelai stood up.

"I'll give you two a little time," She said, walking out of Rory's bedroom and shutting the door behind her.

Luke moved further into her room and turned her desk chair out so he could sit in it and face her. Rory was sitting cross-legged in her bed, staring at her hands in her lap. Luke sighed before breaking the silence.

"I'm sorry for just barging in like that. I shouldn't have been lis-"

"No, you don't have to apologize. I'm not upset." Rory said without looking up.

"Yes you are," He challenged her.

"Yeah, I am." Rory admitted. "But not with you," she added, finally looking up at him. "You didn't do anything wrong… I'm sorry that I scared you. I wish I wasn't such a handful, I'm sure it's not-"

"You have absolutely nothing to apologize for. You're the opposite of a handful. I'd love it if you ate a few more vegetables but that's the least of my worries in life right now. And yes, it scared me the other night when you had that dream. But that's not your fault, Rory." He paused for a moment, swallowing to keep the emotions that were rising up in him at bay. "A really, really awful thing happened to you. And that scares me. Because I've always known what a special, important girl you are, and I've always tried to make sure you were safe. Something came along and threatened that safety, and that scares me. You didn't do anything to scare me. But it's so upsetting to know that you're still hurting and your mother and I can't do anything to help you. Did she talk to you about-"

"Yeah, she did. That's how this whole conversation started actually." Rory chuckled. "I'm going to try it. It can't hurt me to try it."

Luke let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "I'm really happy to hear that, kid. I just want you to know that nothing you could ever do would scare me enough to make me want to leave. You and your mom both have me wrapped around your finger. I'm all in, here." He told her.

"Nobody's ever been all in for us before. I mean, Mia was for a while but then life got busy. Dad's never been here. My grandparents are nice, but I never know when that relationship is going to change." Rory sniffed.

"I'm in, Rory. I'm all in. It's okay if you don't know what to make of that, and even if you don't believe me, because I'm going to stick around to prove it to you." He told her.

"I believe you," Rory whispered.

"Come here," he said, opening his arm, and she curled into his chest so he could wrap his arms around her. He kissed the top of her head and rubbed her back a few times.

"Thank you for being my dad."

"Happy to do it."


	25. Chapter 25

"It's not that many classes!" Rory exclaimed as she walked into the diner with her mother, clearly in the middle of a charged discussion.

"If it's too many for me to see all of your teachers in one night, it's too many classes." She said, collapsing into her stool at the counter dramatically. "Coffee please," She requested of Luke as he appeared from the kitchen.

"What's going on?" he asked as he poured cups of coffee for his girls. "I could hear you from down the street."

"If you could hear us from down the street, you'd know what was going on." Lorelai countered.

"You're insufferable," he told her as he pushed her coffee cup towards her.

"It's parent-teacher conference season, but… I have a lot of teachers." Rory confessed.

"Like, a million." Lorelai added.

"Nine. I take nine classes." Rory corrected.

"That's a lot," Luke remarked.

"I had a hard time narrowing it down last semester… Admittedly I did less narrowing than I probably should've." Rory told Luke.

"Why do you have to go to parent teacher conferences anyway? I thought those were for kids who were failing. You're not failing anything, are you?" Luke asked, growing concerned.

"No, Chilton requires them for every student." Rory explained.

"Oh," Luke remarked.

"And when you have a daughter as perfect as mine, it gets pretty repetitive. 'Rory's so bright, Rory's got a great future ahead of her, Rory is the reason I come to work every morning,' blah, blah, blah, I already knew all of that, and I knew it before they did. Of course, I can't pretend I don't love to brag a little." Lorelai said, pinching her daughter's cheek teasingly.

"Ow, Mom!" Rory laughed, smacking her mother's arm away. Luke smiled at their antics before interjecting.

"I'll go with you," Luke said. "If that's okay with the school and everything."

"It's fine by me, if that's what you mean by "and everything," Rory teased, and Luke smirked at her and blushed.

"Oh, Luke, would you? That would be such a help." Lorelai asked.

"Of course I'll go. It'll be nice. I like to brag about Rory, too, so her teachers and I will have something in common," Luke said, and now it was Rory's turn to blush. "When is it?"

"Next Thursday night at 6." Lorelai answered.

"I'll have Ceasar close."

"Oh, thank you so much, Luke!" Lorelai expressed her gratitude. "This means a lot to me."

"It means a lot that I get to go." He told both of them genuinely.

* * *

Luke unlocked the door to Lorelai's house and walked inside. He could hear voices, but he couldn't tell where they were coming from.

"Lorelai, where are you?" Luke called.

"Upstairs with Rory," Lorelai called back.

Luke made his way upstairs and walked through Lorelai's open bedroom door to find Rory sitting on the bed, surrounding by wrinkling balls of fabric.

"Do you think this one's any better?" Lorelai asked as she came out of the closet in a pink sleeveless collared shirt tucked into a sleek black skirt, paired with matching pink pumps.

"I think that one is just as good as the last outfit or any of the fifty outfits that came before it." Rory rolled her eyes.

"You're lucky that I'm going to be late if I take the time to yell at you." Lorelai told her daughter. "Pizza's in the fridge, ice cream is in the freezer, don't answer the door for strangers… Be good. No parties, there isn't-"

"Enough booze in the house, I know. It's going to be fine, Mom. Go, before you're late. I love you," She said, kissing her mom on the cheek.

"Bye dad."

"Bye, Rory. Be good."

"Am I ever anything less?" She smiled, and Luke smiled back, putting a hand on Lorelai's back and leading her out of the room.

"Okay, so, I asked Rory if she had any young, beautiful teachers, and it turns out she does, so I will be meeting with her piano teacher for sure so that I can be certain that she doesn't try to seduce you," Lorelai informed Luke as she climbed into his truck.

"Sounds like a plan." Luke chuckled.

"You'll have to take all of the ugly teachers." She told him.

"Well, someone's got to do it." Luke smiled at her.

"Have I mentioned how much I love seeing your face light up when Rory calls you Dad? You're a softie, Luke Danes. I thought by now you'd be sick of hearing it." She teased.

Rory had been pretty regularly calling Luke "Dad" when they were in the house, but she still called him Luke when they were in the diner or otherwise in view of the town. This hadn't gone unnoticed by either of them,

"I won't ever get sick of it." He told Lorelai genuinely. "It's the greatest gift she ever could have given me… letting me into her life like that. I know it can't have been easy for her. I'm so proud of her. I love her, Lorelai. I love her like she was my kid."

"She is your kid. And she's pretty fond of you, too."

"I just hope I can continue to be worthy of that level of affection," He told Lorelai.

"Oh, no," Lorelai whispered as she looked over the copy of her daughter's class schedule.

"What's wrong?" Luke asked, looking over to make sure she was okay.

"I uh… I forgot that Max is her English teacher." Lorelai admitted.

"I'll go to that one." Luke told her.

"Luke, no…I need to face this like an adult." Lorelai told him.

"He tried to kiss you last time he saw you, I'm not letting you go in there alone." Luke said sternly.

"Okay, well, Rory takes nine classes. We'll each take four by ourselves, and we'll save Max's for last and go in together."

"Okay… I don't like it but it seems like the best-case scenario." Luke said.

"Luke… I'm nervous." Lorelai told Luke hesitantly.

"About seeing Max? It's going to be fine. I'll be with you the whole time." He said, taking one hand off of the steering wheel to place it on her thigh.

"No, I'm nervous about leaving Rory alone. I haven't left her alone since…"

"Hey, you can't think like that. This had to happen someday. The door's locked. Nothing has happened in months. We'll be home in two hours. It's all going to be fine." He said, using his thumb to rub comforting circles on her skin. "You look incredibly hot, by the way. There's no chance of the piano teacher seducing me. Not that there was a chance before, but-"

"Damnit!" Lorelai said.

"Sorry, I take it back, you look awful."

"Sorry," she shook her head. "I just...wanted to make a good impression. I'm not like other Chilton moms. I want her teachers to like me."

"Her teachers will love you." Luke asserted confidently.

"How can you know?"

"Rory is your first impression, and she's a damn good one." Luke told her.

"That she is." Lorelai concurred, smiling at Luke.


	26. Chapter 26

"Okay, so I'm going to take Piano, AP Calculus, AP Psych, and Journalistic Theory," Lorelai said, reviewing the plan with Luke one more time as they walked through the main entrance of the school.

"And I will take AP Physics, AP History, Communicative Writing, and Geography." Luke responded.

"And we will meet-"

"Outside of her English classroom."

"Perfect," she said, giving Luke a quick peck on the lips. "Thank you again for doing this," She told him before she hurried off to her first appointment of the evening. Luke smiled as he watched her go before turning and heading towards Rory's physics class.

He located the room and saw a tall man standing outside the room.

"You don't look like Lorelai Gilmore," The man said.

"Ah, no, I'm Luke Danes," Luke said, extending his hand. "I'm Lorelai's...significant other. Rory's a smart kid, as I'm sure you know, and Lorelai wasn't sure if she could make it to all the conferences by herself, so here I am." He explained. He had never used the term "significant other" before, and it was definitely weird, but it just felt wrong to say boyfriend in this context.

"Sure, Mr. Danes. Come on in and I can show you some of Rory's transcripts." Luke followed the man inside.

Meanwhile, Lorelai was glad that she'd kept Luke clear of Rory's piano teacher. She was young, probably less than ten years older than Rory herself- long, blonde hair that she'd curled for the evening, and she was wearing a dress that Lorelai judged as more appropriate for an evening of dancing than for a work event.

"Rory's… trying." Her piano teacher said, and Lorelai had to laugh.

"She has no musical talent at all, right? She gets that from me," Lorelai admitted. The piano teacher smiled.

"Rhythm isn't her strong suit… but all of her written work is perfect and she's genuinely trying, and really that's all I can ask for. I don't expect all of my students to be Beethoven."

"I mean, how could you? If they were all Beethoven, being Beethoven wouldn't be special anymore." Lorelai joked, and the piano teacher laughed.

Lorelai's meetings had passed uneventfully, much like she had predicted. Rory was incredibly intelligent, Rory had a bright future. Rory could do or be anything she wanted, every teacher at Chilton affirmed. Lorelai was practically bursting with pride. She'd made a lot of sacrifices for her daughter, and it was moments like these that reminded her why they were all worthwhile. As she made her way down to Max's English classroom, her elation was slowly being replaced with a sense of anxiety and dread. As she got closer, she realized that Max was standing in the hallway. She tried to turn around but it was too late.

"Lorelai Gilmore," he called after her, and she turned around. "Surprised to see you here."

"Yeah, well, my daughter does go to school here… and these meetings are mandatory, three times a year, every year, so…"

"Right…" Max said. "Well, why don't you come in and we'll talk."

"Oh, I'm actually-"

"I don't have all day, Lorelai," Max told her, and she reluctantly followed him in, taking a seat across from him. "Here is Rory's transcript for this class with a breakdown of every assignment grade… Here is where her grade in this class places her at various colleges throughout the country… and here is my recommendation for what courses she should take next year," Max said, handing Lorelai the papers and allowing her to flip through them.

"Man, I love parent-teacher conference night."

"I recall that you used to love it for more reason than one," Max said.

"Don't." Lorelai warned him.

"Come on… you can't tell me that you don't remember it… that you don't think about it."

"Of course I remember it… but I don't think about it."

"Really?" Max asked, unconvinced.

"Really." Lorelai responded. Max rolled closer to her in his chair, leaving little space between them. Lorelai tried to create space, but she was sitting in a student chair that was planted very firmly into the ground.

"You still with the diner guy?"

"You can't ask me that."

"I'm not asking you that as Rory's teacher, I'm asking you as an old friend."

"Yeah, well, you're not an old friend."

"Come on, Lorelai. You've got to admit that we had some fun times together. He placed a hand on her upper thigh and leaned in, Lorelai struggling to create space between them when Luke burst in.

"You take your hands off of her!" he barked, and Max rolled away from her instantly.

"I guess that answers my question." Max said, looking at Lorelai.

"Come on, Lorelai, we're going." Luke said, helping her into her coat but never taking his eyes off of Max. "Lorelai, go into the hall. I'll be out in one second."

"Luke," Lorelai warned.

"Go on," He said, and Lorelai went, although she was nervous to leave the two of them alone. Luke marched up to Max's desk.

"You stay away from her." Luke spat. "I'd love to pull Rory out of your class too, but it's too late in the year for that, and unfortunately Rory respects you as a teacher. But I swear to God, if you come to our home again… if you put a hand on her again… I will not react as calmly as I have the past two times. Are we clear? Lorelai asked you to stay out of her life and she meant it."

"Yeah, well, enjoy the next couple of months," Max said.

"What was that?"

"Lorelai's never had a stable relationship in her life. Enjoy the next few months before she breaks it off, or before you break it off because you realize she's a child hiding in a grown woman's body. A nice body, but still."

"You don't know what you're talking about. Lorelai is the smartest, most incredible woman I've ever met. If you can't see that clearly you're no better than all of the people here she hates so much. I'd venture to say that's why the relationship didn't work out." Luke said, finally deciding he'd had enough and leaving, slamming the door shut behind him. Lorelai rushed up to him and grabbed at his hand, looking at his knuckles.

"What are you doing?" Luke asked breathlessly.

"I wanted to make sure you didn't punch him." Lorelai whispered in response. They started walking towards the car. It was silent for a little while, but the weight of the moment hung heavy in the air.

"I didn't… but I wanted to."

"Well, thank you for not punching him, because Rory really likes this school."

"That's pretty much the only thing that held me back." He admitted, opening the door for her before she climbed into the car.

"Wow, defending my honor and opening the door all in one night? My knight in shining flannel." She teased, pulling at his tie to loosen it. "Even when you're dressed up."

"Tell me it was nothing more than what I saw."

"Nothing," Lorelai affirmed.

"God, that guy is such a creep."

"Hate him," Lorelai agreed. They sat in silence for a moment before Lorelai changed the subject, trying to keep Luke from stewing about what had just happened. "So did any of Rory's teachers accuse her of murder, or even worse, plagiarism?"

"Nope, stellar reports in every class. She's got every door open for her. She's so incredibly bright. I felt like my heart was going to burst out of my chest I was so proud."

"Welcome to the fun part of parenting," Lorelai said, smiling.


	27. Chapter 27

Lorelai walked into the diner and sat at her normal stool at the counter, starting to bounce her leg. She fiddled with her hair absently and waited for Luke to find her. It could have been a second, a minute, or an hour, Lorelai wasn't sure.

"Hey," Luke said, handing her a mug.

Lorelai looked up, surprised. "Hey," she smiled, taking a sip of her coffee.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," Lorelai said unconvincingly.

"I mean...you seem distracted." Luke countered.

"Distracted, no. Well, maybe - yeah. Distracted, okay, sure. I'm very distracted." Lorelai admitted.

"What's going on? Anything I can do?" Luke asked, resting his elbows onto the table and leaning in to talk to her.

"We should talk about it… but not here. Later. Tonight."

"Is this about Fran?" Luke asked, referring to an older woman from their town who'd recently passed.

"No," Lorelai smiled. "I should get back to work," she said, placing a hand on his forearm.

"You haven't eaten." He told her.

"I'm not that hungry," She responded.

"You've got to eat something," he said. "Let me box up some fries for you?"

"Oh boy, you're going to let me eat fries?" Lorelai said with a sarcastic excitement, batting her eyelashes.

"Better fries than nothing." He said, prepping her a bag and a cup of coffee to go.

"Bye handsome," She smiled, leaning forward to give him a chaste kiss on the lips.

Over time, Luke and Lorelai became more intimate in public, and although the town was admittedly surprised to see it at first, they were all so relieved that Luke and Lorelai had finally made their way to each other that no one said anything for fear of jinxing their relationship.

"I'll see you at home," he told her.

Luke got home before Lorelai that night, which was exactly what he'd wanted. He went to the kitchen and started to make dinner, hoping to have it all done before Lorelai was home. He was just pulling the last piece of chicken out of the oven when he heard the door swing open.

"It smells good in my house, that means my man must be home!" Lorelai called into the house.

"In the kitchen," he called back, putting the dish of chicken onto the table, and looking up when she walked into the room. "Wouldn't my truck in the driveway also have tipped you off that I was home?"

"Maybe, but not necessarily. Someone could've murdered you but driven your truck here so that I thought you were alive and in my house but you actually weren't."

"Where do you come up with this stuff?" He asked as he kissed her hello.

"I have a gift," she said, tapping her temple to indicate she was talking about her brain.

"Speaking of your gift-" Luke asked, kissing her temple. "What had you upset this morning?"

Lorelai sighed. "Do you want to do this now?" She asked.

"Uh, yeah, I do." Luke said, growing more confused and concerned with each passing moment.

"Fran owned the Dragonfly Inn."

"I thought this wasn't about Fran," Luke said confused.

"It's not, really."

"Okay, then what's it about?"

"Sookie and I have always talked about owning our own Inn… and today she asked me if I'd buy the Dragonfly with her."

"Okay…" Luke said, failing to see the problem. "Do you not have the money? I can-"

"No, Luke… I'm just afraid of failing," She said, starting to cry. "This has been my dream forever, and I have it, and it's here, but I can't do anything, I can't take the first step, I can't bring myself to sign the check because I'm so afraid of failing. I'm so afraid of failing that I'm already failing."

"You are not failing," Luke said, rushing to wrap Lorelai in his arms.

"I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do, Luke, I don't know what to do." She repeated.

"It's okay," Luke told her, rubbing her back. "Take a deep breath. You're okay."

Lorelai took a deep, shaky breath, and pulled away from him to wipe the tears out of her eyes.

"Sorry for exploding like this,"

"Hey, you've got nothing to be sorry for. This is what I meant when I said I was all in. I'm here for the bumpy parts, too. And for what it's worth, I think you do know what to do."

"Luke, I'm in love with you."

Luke felt all of the air leave his body at once. "Lorelai," He whispered.

"No, Luke, I mean it. I'm not just saying it because I'm emotional and you're here. I'm saying it because I'm in love with you. I'm saying it because when you're around I know I'm safe, and I know that my daughter's safe, and I know that there's somebody on our side, and that we're not alone. I am very emotional right now, and I'm in love with you. And later, when I'm calm, I'll still be in love with you. And at some point down the road I'll probably be angry with you, but I'll still be in love with you." Lorelai said all at once, and it was a lot to say but for once she wasn't rambling. Luke was stunned into silence at it made Lorelai nervous. "You don't have to say it back just because I said it," she told him.

Luke responded immediately, pulling Lorelai back towards him and letting his lips connect with hers. He kissed her passionately for a moment before pulling back to whisper in her ear.

"I've been in love with you for the past five years… for every moment, it's been you. It's always been you."

"Luke," Lorelai whispered as he began to kiss her neck. "That's not true. You hated me at first."

"I had to hate you if I couldn't have you," he told her.

"But then you didn't hate me anymore."

"I couldn't stop myself from falling in love with you."

"And then Rachel came back."

"She moved in and I wished it was you. She left because she knew. She could tell."

"Luke," She whispered. "I need-"

"Anything. Tell me what you need and I'll give it to you."

"Upstairs," she told him, and they wasted no time getting there.


	28. Chapter 28

Lorelai woke up on a Saturday morning a few weeks later to the smell of coffee and pancake batter wafting through her house. She rolled out of bed and pulled on a hoodie over the tank top she'd slept in, sliding a pair of slippers onto her feet before letting her nose lead her to the caffeine, where she found Rory pouring pancake batter onto their griddle and Luke cutting the stems off of some strawberries.

"I didn't even know we still had that old thing," Lorelai said, making her presence known to her two chefs who were otherwise occupied.

"Dad taught me how to make pancakes like his." Rory told her mother as she reached into the cabinet for a coffee mug, handing it to her.

"Thanks," Lorelai responded, taking the mug. "Now we don't need to go to the diner anymore," she teased.

"No, he still won't tell me what makes his coffee different."

"It's a family secret and it's going to stay secret," he told Rory, moving away from the table to give Lorelai a chaste good-morning kiss. "Even if it's just because I don't want you two to stop coming into the diner."

"Aw, you'd miss us," Lorelai teased.

"I would." Luke admitted.

"Oh! I have a fun idea. Let's both quit our jobs and Rory can drop out of school and we can all just sit in the house all the time and that way we never have to miss each other. Luke can cook and it'll be like we still have the diner."

"Legally, I can't drop out of school for two more years." Rory interjected, ruining her mother's otherwise flawless plan.

"Not to mention I need to work at the diner to pay for the food that we eat here."

"I guess my job does do a large part in paying for the house… Maybe not my best plan." Lorelai admitted as Luke put a plate of pancakes in front of her. "Ooh, thank you!" She said, her plan long forgotten as she searched for a fork.

"Eat up, I need to teach you how to drive the truck."

"Uh, you okay there Hun? I know how to drive. It's Rory that you offered to teach."

"Oh, thank God." Rory said, and Luke couldn't help but laugh. "No offense, Mom, but I've never seen you drive without at least one food or beverage in your hands."

"Oh, the betrayal!" Lorelai said dramatically.

"I need to teach you how to drive the truck so that you're not without a car when we take the jeep," Luke clarified between mouthfuls of fruit salad.

"I know how to drive the truck," Lorelai said defensively.

"Well then it'll be a quick lesson." He countered, and she pouted. "I'm not going to let you kill yourself because you don't know how to drive a standard," he told her, and she went back to her pancakes. After a moment, she piped back in.

"But I _do_ know how to drive a standard!" She pleaded.

"Lorelai, it's not up for discussion, finish your pancakes." He said more sternly, and Lorelai cleaned up her plate and followed him outside.

"We'll be back soon, because I do know how to drive a stick shift," Lorelai said to her daughter. "Be good, I love you."

"Bye, love you," Rory called as Luke and Lorelai walked out of the house together.

Luke drove the truck to an industrial park in Woodbridge, knowing that all of the office buildings would be empty or as good as empty on a Saturday. He pulled into a parking spot against a fence and shut the car off.

"Okay, prove to me that you can drive a stick," he told her, getting out of the car to sit in the passenger's seat, while she elected to just slide over in the bucket seat. Once Luke was back in the car and they were both buckled, she turned the key in the ignition.

"Well, that part is the same."

"You're not giving me much reason to have any faith in you," he teased. "Pull the car out and drive around the block," he instructed.

"You know, this is kind of hot," she said as she put the car in reverse.

"What?" He asked, a bit incredulously.

"Driving. You watching me drive. I like to watch you drive when you drive us places."

"Speaking of driving, why don't we start going forward and stop reversing." Luke requested, and Lorelai fiddled with the gearshift.

"Something's wrong with your truck," She told him as she continued to fiddle.

"Nothing's wrong with my truck. Stop the truck."

Lorelai parked the car and shut it off. "It won't go out of reverse," she told him.

"You can't drive a stick," he smirked.

"I can't drive an uncooperative stick," she corrected.

"My stick's not uncooperative."

"Dirty!" Lorelai exclaimed, and Luke rolled his eyes, smirking again.

"Come on, switch places with me."

"Good luck, I don't think it's going to happen," she called out to him as she scooted over in the bucket seat again.

Luke turned the key in the ignition and drove the car around the parking lot, coming back to the same spot as before and parking. He turned to her and smiled, not even trying not to gloat.

"This is a misogynistic truck!" Lorelai exclaimed.

"What?" Luke laughed.

"It's anti-woman, it's gender-selective, it's 'Oh, let's drink a beer and watch the game and hike our shorts up.'"

"My truck is not anti-woman. My woman is anti-truck."

"Ew, please don't ever call me your woman again."

"What's the difference between me calling you my woman as opposed to my girl?" Luke asked, citing a pet name he'd used for her before.

"My girl is cute. It's like "Oh, my guy Luke gave me his letterman jacket at the drive-ins and then after he took me to the drugstore and we split a milkshake," She said with a flighty voice, trying to resemble a lovestruck teenager from the '50's or '60's. "My woman is just… gross. It's like I'm a piece of property or something. It's gross."

"Before we were interrupted by your inability to drive a stick," he teased her, "you were telling me that driving was hot," Luke reminded her, looking for her to elaborate.

"I mean, it is kind of hot… it's very intimate."

"You're going to have to explain further than that."

"Just… you drive all the time. You don't think about it. You don't think about the way you drape one hand over the steering wheel and the other over the back of the seat. You just do things without thinking about it, and I get to watch. Plus, driving is just something kind of special. Every time we get into this car you could kill me."

"Jesus, Lorelai." Luke said, not liking the route their conversation was taking.

"But you don't! Or at least you haven't yet. Like, right now, or at least a few minutes ago, I was driving and you were trusting me not to kill you."

"You would've been hard-pressed to kill me going a max of fifteen in this parking lot."

"I don't know, maybe it's just you."

"Me?"

"Maybe I just think you look sexy driving this car," she said, moving closer to him and unbuckling his seatbelt.

"Lorelai," he whispered to her, and she looked up, capturing his lips with her own.

He kissed her back immediately, moving his hands to either side of her head and pulling her closer, closer. She put her hands on either side of his neck as he moved his to her hips. Lorelai started to guide them from their vertical position to one that was a bit more horizontal, but Luke pulled away.

"Lorelai," he whispered. "We're in public."

"There's no one in any of these buildings," She told him, kissing his jawline.

"You're killing me here."

"Don't make me kill you, let me help you," she said, finally succeeding in getting him horizontal.

"The driving lesson-"

"Can wait."

"The driving lesson can wait."


	29. Chapter 29

A few weeks after Lorelai had started her driving lessons, Rory was ready to start hers, and Luke had been working with her on Saturday and Sunday afternoons so that she wouldn't be completely confused in a few months when she started driver's ed.

"Okay, what's the first thing you do when you get in the car?" Luke asked as he climbed into the passenger seat.

"Turn the key in the ignition."

"Nope."

"Put the key in the ignition, so that you can turn it?"

"No."

"Put my coffee in the cupholder?"

"You're getting colder."

"Enlighten me."

"The first thing you do when you get in the car is put your seatbelt on. Every time. I don't care who's car it is, who's driving, how far you're going-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're preaching to the choir here," Rory said, pulling the seatbelt around here and listening for the click. "Mom's the one you need to lecture about the seatbelt."

"I know, I just wanted to make sure it didn't rub off on you,"

"No, she mainly just gave me the coffee and junk food addiction."

"Oh, well, if it's just the addictions…" he teased.

"Are we going to the industrial park?" Rory asked as she turned the key in the ignition.

"I thought I'd let you drive on the streets today."

"Wow, really?" Rory said with a saccharine sense of mysticism.

"Don't make me regret it," he warned her teasingly.

"I have the industrial park memorized like the back of my hand. I'm totally fine with being on the real roads." Rory smiled as she pulled hastily into the street.

"Woah, woah, Evil Kenevil, cool it a little," He warned, putting his arm out in front of her to stop her from colliding with the steering wheel when Rory took her foot off the gas, causing the car to stop in the middle of the street.

"I'm totally good now. Definitely not going to do that again. Got it out of my system." Luke gave her a look before she took off towards the center of town.

They'd been driving for a while, and had made it into the neighboring town of Woodbridge when Rory's phone rang, vibrating from the cup holder.

"Oh, would you get that? It might be Paris and if it's about the paper she'll just keep calling until I pick up."

"What am I supposed to say to her?"

"It's Paris, you won't have to say anything. She'll yell a little, make her point, and then hang up."

Rolling his eyes, Luke picked up the phone. "Hello?" He asked. "Babette?" He asked again, and Rory tried to tune in but she had to focus on the road. "Rory, pull over." Luke said.

"Why? What's wrong? I don't know how to pull over, there's nowhere to pull over here, I've never had to pull over-"

"Rory! Pull over!" Luke barked, and Rory jumped a little, pulling to the side of the road as tears pricked at the corners of her eyes. Luke jumped out of the passenger side of the Jeep and Rory followed, although she wasn't sure what was going on. She climbed into the passenger seat as Luke slammed the driver's side door shut."

"What's wrong?" Rory asked, trying to keep her voice even so Luke couldn't tell she was crying.

"Your mother is hurt," he said as he pulled back into the street.

Rory gasped in shock, and couldn't hold it in anymore: she let out a sob and Luke turned to look at her almost immediately.

"Rory, Rory," Luke said, trying to split his attention between her and the road. He reached for her hand and squeezed it.

"What happened?" She whispered.

"She was pulling through the four way intersection at the center of town, and somebody blew through the stop sign coming from the left side of her." Luke told her softly. "The uh… the truck flipped." Luke said, starting to choke up a bit. Rory gasped again and Luke squeezed her hand once more. "It's going to be okay," he told her softly.

"How do you know that? How do you know?" Rory asked, wanting to hear that her mother, being the Wonder Woman she fancied herself to be, had been hurt, sure, but she climbed out of the car with just a sprained ankle or a fractured wrist.

"It's going to be okay," he repeated. They sped down the freeway in silence before Luke spoke up again. "I'm sorry I yelled. I was just-"

"Scared?" Rory finished the sentence for him.

"Yeah. I'm scared," he admitted to her as he pulled off of the highway.

"Me too," Rory admitted.

They sat in silence for a few more moments before Luke pulled into the parking lot of the hospital. Before Luke had even seen an available parking spot, Rory unbuckled her seatbelt and put her hand on the door handle.

"What do you think you're doing?" Luke asked sharply as he realized that Rory was thinking. Rory jumped a little and pulled her hand away from the door when she heard Luke's voice. "I don't think I'll be able to handle it if you both end up in the hospital," he added under his breath as he parked the Jeep.

"Dad, I can't do it. I can't do it. I can't do it."

"Rory, take a deep breath. Come on," he said, unbuckling her seatbelt and then getting out of the car, going to the passenger side and opening the door. By the time he reached her, Rory was hyperventilating. "Come on, come here," He said, taking her hand in hers and helping her out of the car. She turned towards him, falling out of the car more than she was stepping. Luke grabbed her by the forearms to steady her, and Rory wrapped her arms around Luke and cried into his chest. Luke gave her a moment to cry and then looked at her. "It's going to be okay, okay? I promise it's all going to be okay. Let's go inside. It's too cold to stay out here, you'll get sick," He said as he guided her towards the entrance of the hospital. Rory didn't say anything, she just sniffled and stayed as close to Luke to possible as they walked through the parking lot and waiting room. Luke strode up to the desk and spoke to the woman sitting there. "I'm looking for Lorelai Gilmore."


	30. Chapter 30

Luke Danes hated hospitals. He hated the smell of them. He hated the ways they were somehow well-lit and dim at the same time. He hated the chairs. They were never comfortable. Being in a hospital was hard enough, they couldn't invest in some damn comfortable chairs? He hated the way the nurses stared when he paced: what was he to do? The chairs weren't comfortable, and he hated sitting at a time like this. He hated hospitals. He hated the waiting room. He hated waiting to see his Mom. He hated waiting to see his dad. And now he was waiting for Lorelai, the woman he loved more than anything in the world. And he hated it. He looked over at Rory: she was sitting in one of the God awful chairs, with her knees tucked into her chest, her arms wrapped around them, her hands clutching to a weak cup of coffee a nurse had given her, trying to calm her when she had first come in. She was staring at nothing, and Luke could tell she was getting lost in her own thoughts; he'd been there many times before. He walked over to Rory's seat and crouched to the ground to make eye contact with her.

"Rory... look at me."

Rory's piercingly blue eyes struck him as she quickly shifted her gaze towards him. Her eyes were 100% Lorelai's. Those big baby blues were killer. He'd never been able to say no to them.

"Everything is going to be okay. We're going to go see your mom in a few minutes, and no matter what happens in there, everything is going to be okay. I'm right here."

Rory nodded sadly, and Luke felt his heart break a little more. He wanted nothing more than to fix this: to fix both of them, but he was completely helpless. There was nothing he could do and he absolutely hated it. Just another thing to hate about hospitals.

"Family of Lorelai Gilmore?" a nurse called into the waiting room, and Luke and Rory looked at each other before walking towards the nurse. "Lorelai's going to be fine."

"Going to be?" Rory interjected, and Luke placed a hand on her back, trying to steady her.

"It could have been much worse," the nurse said, clearly annoyed and trying to give Rory some perspective.

"Hey, clearly she's worried here. She doesn't need to hear that right now," Luke interjected on Rory's behalf. "Sure, it could've been worse, but why don't you just tell us what's going on now?"

"She broke a few ribs, and her lung collapsed. She's got a concussion and her leg is fractured. Her team performed surgery to repair the lung, and the surgery went well, but she'll have to stay here for a little while to be monitored. She's still unconscious from the surgery, and she looks a little rough, but you can see her if you'd like."

"Now, please." Rory pleaded.

"Rory, are you sure? It's probably not going to be pretty." Luke interjected, putting a hand on Rory's shoulder to present her from sprinting down the hall.

"I thought you were required to think that my mom's always pretty."

"She is always pretty." He affirmed.

"I need to see her… I just need to see her." Rory told Luke, and he nodded, letting the nurse lead the way.

As Luke had predicted, the scene wasn't pretty. Lorelai was bruised, bandaged, and banged up. She was wrapped in a variety of bandages, she had a black eye, and her hair was stuck to her forehead by a combination of sweat and blood. Rory took a tentative step towards her and took her mother's hand in her own. She turned back to look at Luke.

"She's going to be okay," she said out loud, not sure if she was telling Luke or herself.

"Come here," he said, opening his arms to her, and she gladly accepted the hug. Luke just held her for a moment, and then he had to pull away. "I'm going to take you to your grandparent's house."

"What? No, Luke, I want to stay-"

"Rory, you've got school in the morning. If anything changes I'll come get you, but you've got to go to school, and I'm not going to leave you alone at the house."

"So you're staying here but I can't?"

"Yes, Rory. I can close the diner, but school's still going to be open tomorrow morning. Your mom would want you to go to school, she wouldn't want you to sit around worrying all day."

"I hate that you're right."

"That's fine. Do you want me to give you a minute?" He said, gesturing towards Lorelai.

"Yeah. Thanks," she said, walking back over to her mother as Luke walked out to the hallway, rolling back and forth on his feet as he waited for Rory. She came out after a moment, her eyes watery. "I'm good. Really." She assured Luke, giving a weak smile.

"I can pick you up from school tomorrow and bring you straight back here. She'll be asking for you I'm sure."

"Yeah, well, I'll be asking for her too."

Luke called Richard from the car, and the elder Gilmores of course offered to house Rory and get her to school the following day. They were already in Hartford at the hospital, so it was a short drive to the Gilmore mansion.

"Do you want me to walk you in?" Luke asked.

"No, get back to Mom. I don't want her to wake up alone." Rory said.

"Call me in the morning when you wake up," Luke told Rory.

"I will. Good night, dad. I love you."

"Good night, kid. I love you too."

Rory leaned over in her seat to kiss Luke on the cheek before hopping out of the car and ringing the doorbell of her Grandparents house. She was greeted warmly by Emily and Richard and Luke didn't pull out of the driveway until the door shut behind Rory. He drove back to the hospital to find Lorelai still asleep. He tried to push a stray piece of hair behind her ear to find it cemented to her face by a cocktail of dried sweat and blood. He found a nurse and requested a face cloth and warm water, rolling up the sleeves of his flannel and setting the bowl of water onto Lorelai's bedside table. He dipped the rag into the bucket and gently wiped at her face, leaning in close to her to make sure he was cleaning effectively.

"You really scared me," he whispered as he wiped at her forehead. "This hospital… it's exactly the same as it was when I brought my dad here. It's the same as when we brought my mom here." He said, knowing that Lorelai was asleep and couldn't hear. "I thought...I thought I might lose you too. Lorelai, I can't… I can't lose you."

"I'm sorry," Lorelai's voice whispered weakly.

"Lorelai?" Luke said breathlessly.

"Where's Rory? Is Rory okay?"

"Rory's okay. Are you okay?"

"Where's Rory? I remember a crash but I don't remember-"

"Rory wasn't in the car with you. I was with her. She's at her grandparents. They're going to bring her to school tomorrow and then I'll pick her up and bring her back here to see you. Are you okay?"

"I mean, I'm here."

"Yes, Lorelai, I know you're here, but are you in pain, does anything hurt?"

"Luke, come here."

"Why, tell me what's wrong."

"Luke, come here, I can't pull you any closer because my wrist is wrapped weirdly."

"It's wrapped like that because it's broken," he said as he leaned into her. Before he could say anything else, Lorelai raised her head slightly to capture Luke's lips in a kiss that was as passionate as it could be given the situation.

"There. Now I'm all better." she smiled.

"You really scared me there."

"Not my intention. I think I really screwed up the truck."

"I don't care about the truck."

"You've had that truck as long as I've had Rory."

"I don't care about the truck. I care about you. And Rory."

"Sleepy." Lorelai said.

"Go back to sleep. Rest. Heal. I'll be here when you wake up."

"Luke?"

"Yeah,"

"Remember that I love you."

"I love you too. Go to sleep."

Lorelai smiled contentedly. "Sleep."


	31. Chapter 31

As promised, Luke took the Jeep to Chilton the following day to pick Rory up from school. He could see her walking towards him from his rearview mirror and as she got closer he could pick up bits of her conversation with the girls she was walking with.

"Who's that in your mom's car?" A blonde with a voice familiar to Luke asked Rory.

"Oh, that's my dad."

"I thought your dad left."

"Oh, um…" Rory blushed, realizing she'd slipped up. "He's not my biological dad. He's the dad that raised me."

"Oh… So he's like Nanny?"

Rory laughed a little. "Not exactly, Paris."

"Wait, why is he driving your mom's car? Where's your mom? Oh god, did he kidnap you? Rory, blink twice if he kidnapped you."

"No, Paris, he didn't kidnap me. Listen, I've got to run. Bye Madeline, Bye Louise," Rory called over her shoulder. "Bye Paris.' She said as she rushed to the car door.

"Remember I need that article by tomorrow morning." Paris called after her and Rory rolled her eyes as she stepped into the jeep.

"So that's the infamous Paris," Luke said as Rory buckled her seatbelt.

"The very one." Rory confirmed. "How's my mom doing?" she asked as Luke pulled out of the school's parking lot.

"Good. She's more awake now than she was this morning now that all the drugs from the surgery have worn off. She's excited to see you. How was school?'

"School was fine. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't distracted."

"I'm glad you went. It probably helped you take your mind off of things more than you realized."

"You're probably right." Rory agreed as they pulled into the hospital parking lot. "Is she awake?" She asked Luke as they walked into the building.

"Well, she was when I left, but she's sleeping a lot. Her body needs to heal."

"Yeah, yeah, I know how it works. Last time we were here it was for me, remember?"

"Don't remind me." He said, clenching his teeth a little.

"I don't regret it."

"What?" Luke asked incredulously.

"Well, I mean, I guess I do regret it, but I can't regret it completely because you and Mom had your first kiss right…here." Rory said, standing outside of the room she'd been examined in when she had last been in the hospital.

"Oh, your mom told you about that?" Luke said, a little embarrassed.

"She tells me everything, you should know that by now."

"I guess you're right. But to be fair, the kiss was more over here." He said, moving her down the hallway a few feet.

"You remember exactly where you were standing?" Rory teased.

"I'll never forget." He told her. "Come on, your mom is probably about to roll out of bed and beg a nurse for coffee, we've left her alone too long."

Rory briskly walked the rest of the way down the hallway, taking pause outside of her mother's room to open the door slowly just in case she was sleeping. She found that her mother's eyes were open, and she swung the door the rest of the way ajar.

"Oh, my angel!" Lorelai said excitedly when she saw Rory come through the door. "Come here!" She said, giving her daughter a hug as best she could manage given her awkward state.

"I missed you." Rory said to her mom. "I think that's the longest we've gone without talking since I learned how to talk."

Lorelai chuckled at her daughter. "Well, I'll try not to get into any more car accidents if you agree to live in a bubble for the rest of your life."

"That doesn't seem like a fair trade."

"I guess we'll just have to take our chances."

"I'm getting both of you your own bubbles," Luke interjected.

A doctor walked in, and the three of them momentarily ceased their banter so that they could give the doctor their attention.

"Am I ready to break out yet?" Lorelai asked, and the doctor chuckled.

"No, not yet." she said, and Lorelai dramatically threw her head back in frustration. "I know, I know, but you've got to remember, Mrs. Gilmore, your injuries could've been much worse."

"Ms." Lorelai corrected.

"I'm sorry?" the doctor asked for clarification.

"Mrs. Gilmore is my mother. I'm Ms. Gilmore."

"Oh," the doctor said, looking over at Luke and realizing for the first time that he wasn't Lorelai's husband. "So… just to cover the bases, you're okay with everyone in the room being privy to your medical information.

"Uh, yeah," Lorelai said, a little confused.

"Okay, great. Regardless, you're not ready to go home just yet, but we're getting there. I can probably have you home by Wednesday night if you continue to recover at this pace."

"Alright, I'll be out of here by Tuesday morning," Lorelai smiled.

"Lorelai," Luke warned. "Don't rush this. You need to heal."

"He's right. And just because I'm sending you home doesn't mean you'll be back at 100%. I'd recommend you don't go back to work any earlier than next Monday." The doctor added.

"That's an entire week. I run a whole Inn, I can't just take a week off without leaving incredibly detailed plans, and-"

"Michel will take care of it." Luke interrupted her. "You need to get better, Lorelai, your healing isn't up for discussion."

"But-"

"No." Luke told her, and Lorelai seceded.

"Your lung scans look good. How do you feel?"

"I feel good."

"Any pain?"

"No."

"Are you lying to get out of the hospital quicker?" The doctor asked.

"No, I'm not, I swear." Lorelai insisted, and the doctor smiled.

"Good. That's pretty much all I had. Can I get you anything?"

"Discharge papers would be great."

The doctor laughed. "Soon, Ms. Gilmore." He told her as he exited the room.

"Rory, you must be starving, let's get you something to eat." Luke said.

"No, I want to stay here." Rory said.

"You've got to eat something, that's a non-negotiable. Do you want to wait until I bring you back to your grandparents' house?"

"I don't want to leave, I just got here."

"I know, but it's getting late, and you need to do your homework, and eat something, all of those annoying things that come with being a human."

"Luke, babe, why don't you take her home?"

"Home?"

"Yes, why don't you take her to our home so she can sleep in her own bed and eat her normal pop-tarts for breakfast… home."

"I can't leave her there."

"I know that. Why don't you go with her?"

"And leave you here?"

"I'm a big girl, I slept alone for a decade and a half before we started dating. I think I'll be okay. You've barely left this room in the past 48 hours, and you hate hospitals. Don't make yourself sick trying to make sure I get better."

Rory could tell that neither her mother nor Luke was going to give up on this battle easily.

"I"m going to go get some coffee," she said, making an excuse to give them some privacy.

"Lorelai, I don't mind staying here with you. Lord knows I'm not going to fall asleep without you in the bed anyways."

"I know you don't mind sweetheart, but I think you should go at least try and take a night for yourself. Take a shower, shave, sleep in a real bed instead of a hospital futon. I'll be okay."

"But what if you aren't?" Luke asked before he could bite his tongue. Once he'd realized what he said, he knew he needed to explain further. "My mom and my dad… they came to hospitals and they never left. I lost them here. I can't lose you, too. I can't lose you Lorelai, I don't know what I'd do."

"Baby, baby, look at me." Lorelai said, trying to calm Luke as much as she could, given her impaired state. She took his hands in hers. "I'm not going anywhere, okay? You're stuck with me. I'm sticking around for so much longer that when I finally go you'll let out a sigh of relief."

"Don't joke like that," he said, shaking his head before kissing her forehead.

"My point is, I'm not leaving anytime soon. Go home. Breathe. Call me if you need to. But you need to make sure you stay healthy, too."

"I love you."

"I love you too. Thank you for making sure Rory's okay. I can't even begin to tell you-"

"Save it." He interrupted her. "I'm just doing my job."

"Go home," she smiled at him.

"I'll call you later."

"Goodnight, sweetheart," she said, lifting her head for a kiss, which he gave willingly.

"Goodnight."


	32. Chapter 32

A few days later, Lorelai had been discharged from the hospital but placed on bedrest until her lung was completely healed. Life had mostly gone back to normal: Rory went to school and Luke went to work, although he took breaks during the day to come home and check on her. It was during one of these midday breaks that Luke found Lorelai in the kitchen, fiddling with the coffeepot. He could tell that she hadn't heard him come in, and he capitalized on this opportunity to come up behind her and wrap his arms around her waist.

"You're supposed to be in bed," he whispered. She'd jumped at the contact, but relaxed at the sound of his voice.

"I'm sure you'd just love that," she whispered back, leaning into him.

"Hey now, you know just as well as I do that you're not healthy enough for that yet."

"Well, good news is, I've been on the couch, not in bed, so I won't be a temptation to you," she teased.

"You're a temptation to me everywhere you are. It's not the bed that gets me going," he told her.

"You're not making me want you any less." She warned him, narrowing her eyes in his direction

"Sorry. What've you been doing all day?"

"Work stuff."

"Lorelai," he chastised. "You're supposed to be healing, not working."

"It's just paperwork… I'm trying to figure out if I can make the Dragonfly work."

"Of course you can."

"It's not going to be easy."

"No, it's not. But I know you can do it. Quit trying to talk yourself out of it. Just sign the check. I'll be here to support you every step of the way."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

Lorelai bit her lip. She believed that Luke believed in her, but she couldn't help but wonder if he was putting his faith in the wrong place.

"Stop overthinking it," Luke said, noticing her reaction. "Lorelai, you're amazing at what you do. I know that, Mia knows that, Sookie knows that, hell, the whole town knows that. There are going to be hard days at the Dragonfly, but there'd be hard days at the Independence Inn, too. If you let this opportunity pass by you're always going to wonder what if…"

"You're right," she told him. "I'll regret it if I don't do it."

He handed her a checkbook and a pen. "You know what to do."

* * *

October gave way to November and the spirit of Thanksgiving had settled over Stars Hollow. With the spirit of Thanksgiving came the myriad of dinners that Lorelai, Rory, and this year, Luke, were expected to attend.

"I don't know if Mrs. Kim would be overjoyed or floored if I brought you to dinner," Lorelai told Luke as part of a conversation about their plans for the upcoming holiday.

"Mrs. Kim scares me."

"Do you want me to beat her up for you?"

"No, I shouldn't have to ask you to do stuff like that," he told her. "You should just do it," he added teasingly, smiling at her.

"Well the good news is, I don't think you'll have to go to her Thanksgiving. Rory and I will make a quick appearance at the Kim's, have appetizers at Sookie's, and then we'll come here for first dinner. If you could get Caesar to close, we could leave right from here for my mom's to have second dinner and dessert."

"Doesn't it make more sense to just eat one dinner?"

"My mom would _never_ allow me to eat dessert without dinner." She said, appalled at the idea.

"So just skip dinner here. Have cokes or something."

"No, way, you're the main event!" Lorelai told him, and he couldn't help but smile at how earnest she was.

"Good," he told her, kissing her cheek.

Later that week, as Rory, Lorelai, and Luke sat in Luke's diner eating their Thanksgiving dinners, Lorelai couldn't help but notice that Luke was barely eating. He was alternating between looking at her and Rory lovingly, which Lorelai appreciated even though she pretended she didn't notice, and pushing the food on his plate. He'd made a dent in the carrots but virtually everything else had gone untouched.

"It's really nice to have you two here," Luke said, breaking their comfortable silence.

"We always come here for Thanksgiving," Lorelai said.

"Yeah, but it's nice to have you here this year especially."

"Oh, mom, he's thankful for us!" Rory gushed teasingly.

"I'm incredibly thankful for the two of you. And I'm not ashamed to admit it." Luke told them, and they both looked at their plates and smiled. Luke chuckled a little and they looked back up.

"What?" Lorelai asked.

"You two don't realize how similar you are. You ate your meals in the exact same order," he said, pointing at their plates.

"Clockwise around the plate," Rory answered.

"That's just the way that makes the most sense." Lorelai told Luke.

"It's more intuitive," Rory added.

"You even move in synch."

"We do not." They answered together, then turning to look at each other.

"We have to stop this or we're going to end up with a Freaky Friday situation on our hands. Eat your dinner counterclockwise at my parents house."

"I can't! That's so unnatural."

"Then just let me be like four bites ahead of you."

"Okay," Rory said, pausing for a moment to let her mother eat.

"You two are absolutely insane."

"Hey, nothing's keeping you here," Lorelai reminded him teasingly.

"Like there's anyway I could go back to the way my life was before you two were in it."

"We're pretty unforgettable." Lorelai concurred.

"That's not always a good thing," Rory added, smiling.

"It's a good thing," Luke corrected.

A little while later they had made it to the Gilmore Mansion, which was already swarmed with people. A maid took their coats, and Luke placed his hand on the small of Lorelai's back, partly to comfort her and partly to make sure he didn't lose her in the crowded room.

"I'm going to go make an appearance in front of Grandma and then hide in your old bedroom," Rory told her mother.

"Oh my God, you're a genius. I'm coming with you."

"Mom, if we both go, she'll definitely notice we're gone. Plus, you have Luke. Everyone here is at least two decades older than me."

"Well, I'm only sixteen years older than you, so…"

"You know what I mean. You've got to take one for the team this time."

"You're lucky I love you, kid."

"Don't I know it." She said, kissing her mother on the cheek before flitting off to find her grandmother.

"Sorry to drag you out here, I know this isn't really your thing." Lorelai said to Luke.

"No, but it's a thing. Being involved in somebody else's life comes with things. I leave the house at 4:30 in the morning for shipments, you drag me to fancy dinners once in awhile. They're just... things."

"Well, thank you for dealing with my things," she smiled at him, and he kissed her temple.

"Just doing my job."

"Oh, Lorelai there you are!" Emily's shrill voice rang through their tender moment.

"Hi Mom, happy Thanksgiving," Lorelai smiled, trying to be good.

"I want you to come talk to Missy Hendricks from the DAR. She's our event coordinator and she wants to see if the Inn could work for an upcoming tea."

"Mom, shouldn't we save the work for after the holiday?"

"Oh, nonsense, she's here, you're here, it's the perfect time! Come along now," her mother said, grabbing her arm and pulling her away.

Lorelai shot a sympathetic glance over her shoulder to Luke and he just smiled back, waiting for her to be out of sight before he turned and looked into the crowd. He was a man on a mission. He made his way into the room and spotted Richard at a drink cart. He managed to maneuver his way to the cart before Richard had turned away. Richard looked up and seemed surprised at what they saw.

"Luke! How are you? Happy Thanksgiving." Richard said, extending his hand for Luke to shake, which he took.

"I'm doing well, sir, how are you?"

"Just wonderful. Can I get you anything?"

"No, I'm alright, thank you though." Luke said. "Could I steal you for a minute in your office?" Luke asked.

"Well of course," Richard said, leading the way and shutting the door behind them after they entered.

"I want to marry Lorelai," Luke blurted out before he could stop himself. "I know that this maybe isn't what you wanted to hear. I know Lorelai could have married someone smarter, or someone with a better job, or someone with more money, but she picked me, and I love her, and I can't imagine a day of my life that I don't want her and Rory to be a part of. I'm sure you're worried that I can't take care of her, but I can, I've lived a modest life since my parents died, and I run a successful business. I have more than I need and I want to share it with them, I want to provide for them and keep them safe and happy. It's been a really long time since I had a family. My mom died when I was twelve. My family was still there, but we were hurting. Then my dad died, and my sister fled. It was really, really, hard. I was just a kid. I was 22. But then I met Lorelai and Rory, and I was a part of their life… and then they let me into their family, and it's more than I ever could have asked for. It's everything I wanted and more and I just can't let it go." Luke shot out all at once.

"Luke, take a breath. I see Lorelai's penchant for ranting has rubbed off on you." He smirked, and Luke let out a big breath.

"I guess it has."

"I'll admit that you're not the kind of man we pictured Lorelai with… but Lorelai's made it very clear to us that she never intended to stick with our plan." Richard smiled. "Lorelai's always been very headstrong, and proud of what she's accomplished."

"She has every right to be."

"That she does… For years, she was proud and accomplished, but I don't know if she was happy. When you entered her life Luke… she was happy. Knowing that my daughter and granddaughter are safe, happy, and provided for are more than I could ever ask for. You have my blessing, absolutely."

"Thank you, sir."

"Have you talked to Emily?"

"No," he admitted.

"I'll handle Emily. She isn't going to be happy at first, and I'm not going to pretend that she will be, but let me talk to her. We both want Lorelai to be happy. Emily… Well, Emily sometimes confuses what makes her happy with what makes Lorelai happy." Luke nodded in understanding. "Well, we should probably get back out there before our absence is noted," Richard said, standing up and extending his hand. "Welcome to the family, Luke."


	33. Chapter 33

Sometime early the morning after Thanksgiving, Lorelai had crept out of the house and headed to Woodbridge to go Black Friday shopping with Sookie, leaving Luke and Rory alone in the house. Luke stirred around 8:30 and hopped into the shower, trying to wash away the fatigue brought on by all the events and excitement of the day prior. After showering and getting dressed, Luke went downstairs and started a pot of coffee. Rory was still asleep, but Luke figured it wouldn't be for long. Rory, unlike her mother, wasn't the kind of person to sleep the day away. As predicted, Rory groggily stepped out of her room, pulling at the tie on her robe that she'd pulled on over her pajamas just as the coffee finished brewing. He took a deep breath, anxiety churning in the pit of his stomach. He knew Rory. He knew this would all be okay. But he was still worried beyond belief.

"Morning, kid." Luke said, chuckling a little at the many different directions her hair was facing.

"Morning. Mom home yet?" She yawned, covering her mouth before rubbing at her eyes, which were still droopy and tired-looking.

"No, she said she probably wouldn't be home until after lunchtime," Luke answered, handing her a mug of coffee. She looked up at him.

"Bless you," she said, thanking him for the gesture.

"Do you want me to make you something to eat?"

"No, I'm still stuffed from yesterday. I probably won't eat again until tomorrow."

Luke chuckled again, knowing full well that her iron-clad stomach probably just needed another moment or two to wake up. "I'll ask you again in twenty minutes."

"Good plan."

Luke swallowed before he changed the subject. "Hey, Rory… I need to ask you something. And I want you to be honest with me, okay? Don't try and spare my feelings, just tell me how you feel." He told her.

"Okay…," Rory said hesitantly, surprised by his sudden tone change.

"I want to marry your mom. I want to spend the rest of my life here, with the two of you. But I don't know if that's going to be weird or uncomfortable for you, and if you don't like the idea, I won't ask, because this is your house and your mom-"

"Shut up." Rory interjected, cutting him off entirely.

"What?" Luke asked incredulously. Had Rory ever said the phrase "shut up" before in her life? If she had, he was sure he'd never heard it.

"Of _course_ I want you to marry Mom." Rory stated simply, as if it should be obvious.

Luke let out a sigh of relief. "So I have your blessing?"

"You always have. But-"

"But?" Luke interjected.

"Nothing, it's nothing." Rory tried to backtrack, but it was too late.

"Rory, I want you to tell me how you feel about all of this. Your opinion on this stuff is important to me."

"It's just… you can't leave. And I guess that's what you're saying by giving Mom a ring, is that you never want to leave, so that's good but just… I really like having you here. I just don't want you to leave. I've never minded it being just me and Mom, but… if you left, it'd be different now. I really don't want you to leave."

"Hey, I'm not going anywhere, okay? Ring or no ring, I'm here as long as you and your mom want me around."

"Good. That's...good. I'm not used to that, but it's good."

"Good," Luke teased.

"Can I ask you another question?" Rory asked nervously.

"Of course."

"When you say you want to marry my mom… do you mean like, 'someday, I'd like to marry your mom, but I could give it another few years,' or do you mean 'I like the idea of marrying your mother and I just want to make sure the path is clear if I ever decide to take any sort of action on that front, or do you mean' 'I have a ring and I'd like to propose to your mom and make her my wife and be her husband.' You know… the whole package?"

"I want the whole package. I've always wanted the whole package." Luke revealed to her.

"So… do you have a ring?" Rory asked, and Luke smiled.

"Yes, I do."

"And you have it here, in this house?"

"Yes, I do."

"Wow, you're really prepping for those vows, huh?"

"I guess that I am. Am I doing a good job?"

"It's kind of hard to screw it up."

"You're probably right."

"Are you going to make me beg to see this ring or what?" Rory asked, exasperated but smiling.

Luke stood up from where he was sitting across the table from Rory. "Give me one second," He said, trotting upstairs to the bedroom he shared with Lorelai.

He had never officially "moved in" to their house, but eventually they realized that more of his things were here than they were at the diner, and he couldn't sleep without Lorelai next to him anymore. He rifled through his sock drawer, finding the velvet box nestled into the corner in the back, exactly where he'd left it. He flipped it open to check that the ring was still there out of some strange paranoia, then went back downstairs to bring the box to Rory. He slid it across the table to her and she flipped it open excitedly. She flipped the lid of the box to reveal one large pear-shaped diamond on a silver band, encased in a loop of smaller diamonds.

"Oh, Luke, it's beautiful! Did you have help?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

"No, I did not have help," he over-exaggerated teasingly. "I just know what your mother likes."

"Well, you did a good job. She's going to love it."

"Here's hoping," Luke said.

"Luke, you can't possibly be nervous about this, are you? This is you and my mom. You were made for each other. She's going to say yes."

"You think so?"

"I know so. She loves you, Luke."

"I love her too."


	34. Chapter 34

"I'm not getting all gussied up for a Christmas card," Luke told Lorelai resolutely as he delivered plates to a nearby table while she followed him around the diner.

"You don't have to get all gussied up!" Lorelai pleaded with him. "Just wear your green flannel and black jeans. Rory and I are wearing black shirts and red plaid skirts. I'm really only asking you to take off the hat. Please, Luke. Please, please, please."

"I like the hat. You gave me this hat, which means that you also like the hat."

"It also means that I can take it back."

"It most certainly does not!" Luke said. "It was a gift, you can't take back a gift."

"I can and I will!" She threatened.

"I will take the Christmas card pictures." He resigned.

"Oh, Luke! Thank you thank you thank you!" Lorelai said, jumping up and down excitedly.

"But I will not, under any circumstances, hold any props. No candy canes, no fake presents. Just me and my girls."

"Deal." She smiled at him, and he couldn't help but smile back.

"I take it you knew that there's no chance I'd be able to say no to you and already booked an appointment." Luke folded his arms, wanting to pretend like he was angry, but he couldn't stop smiling at her.

"Thursday at seven, and have I mentioned today that I love you?"

"If I say no will you tell me again?"

"I was going to tell you again either way."

"Humor me."

"I love you," She said sweetly, leaning over the counter for a kiss before gathering her stuff so she could head to work.

"I love you too. Have a good day," he called after her as she left.

* * *

"Okay, so we need 30 cards, probably an 8 by 10 of this one for the living room, and maybe a 4x6 of this one for the bedroom." Lorelai said, looking over her Christmas card pictures with the photographer and Luke. They'd gone to a studio in the mall, and Rory was off Christmas shopping while they waited for the pictures to develop.

"Can I get a wallet print of that one?" Luke asked the photographer, pointing out a picture of Lorelai and Rory. It was clearly a candid shot; Rory was laughing at something Lorelai had said and they were clutching at each other's arms, leaning into each other and smiling brightly.

"We aren't even looking at the camera in that one. My chin looks weird from that angle. Print that one." She said, pointing at a still nice, but more staged photo of her and her daughter. "What do you need a wallet print for, anyway?"

"Uh, for my wallet." Luke answered plainly. "Print them both," Luke told the photographer.

"Oh, you're such a softie." Lorelai smiled, pecking his lips for a moment.

"I think I want a four by six of that one for the diner, too." Luke told the photographer, who walked behind a curtain to print the pictures.

"Don't you see us enough in there? We come by twice a day, at least."

"It could never be enough," he said, wrapping his arms around her waist and standing behind her as they looked through more pictures. After a moment, Luke noticed that Lorelai was breathing funny. "Hey, are you okay?"

"What?" Lorelai asked, her voice cracking. "No, I'm okay. I'm good." She said, wiping at a few tears that had dared to spill out of her eyes.

"What's wrong?" Luke asked, turning her to look at him.

"When we did our first christmas card, Rory was six years old. She had these big, round glasses, and chubby cheeks, and her favorite thing in the world was whatever Nancy Drew novel she was reading that day…" Lorelai said with a nostalgic smile. "And now she's sixteen, and I only have two Christmas cards left before she moved out of the house and into her big fancy Harvard dorm, and it happened real damn fast." Lorelai admitted, and Luke pulled her into a hug.

"You can still do a Christmas card while Rory's at Harvard."

"Yeah?"

"Sure. Take the picture when she's home for Thanksgiving."

"I wish that made me feel better."

"Me too. I'm going to miss her. Are you sure there's nothing we can do to stop this whole growing up thing that she seems so dead set on?"

"Not according to the manual."

"The manual?"

"The mom manual, they give it to you to read while you're in labor. I wasn't in much of a reading mood, but I skimmed it. Nothing about stopping them from growing up that I remember, and trust me, I'd remember."

"She's such a bright kid… she could do anything, she could be anything she wanted."

"And here we are wishing she'd stay home forever… Are we bad parents?"

"What? Lorelai, no, of course not. I think you'd be a bad parent if you were counting down the days until you could ship her off to school."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. I just feel selfish. She's got so much to give to the world and I want her to stay in Stars Hollow with me until we're old and gray."

"You're her mom… I think you're allowed to be selfish about your kid. I'm not sure though, I didn't read the manual."

"Can I tell you a secret?"

"Of course."

"I made the manual up."

He gasped in mock surprise. "No!"

"Yeah, I know."

"Well, I happen to think you did a pretty kick-ass job without a manual."

"I can't take all the credit."

"Yes you can."

"No, I can't Luke. You fed my kid, you taught her how to ride a bike, you calmed her down when she had nightmares, you convinced her to see a therapist. I love bragging about how great our kid is, but she's _our_ kid."

"I like the sound of that. Our kid." Luke smiled.

"Isn't it nice? I never got to say that before. I never got to say 'our daughter, Rory.' And now I do. And there's nobody else I'd want to share that 'our' with."

Luke couldn't stop himself from kissing her. It was far too long to be appropriate for public, but at first they didn't care. They broke apart after a long, long moment, and took their Christmas cards from the photographer, setting off to find their daughter in the mall.


	35. Chapter 35

Lorelai woke up one Saturday morning to find Luke's side of the bed cold. It wasn't entirely uncommon for her to wake up alone: Luke still had shipments to tend to, although his opening shifts were becoming fewer and further between, and Lorelai liked to think that she was the cause of that. Luke hadn't worked a Saturday opening in months, however, and he always kissed her goodbye before he left. As far as she could remember, there was no kiss. Confused and a little worried, Lorelai swung her feet around the side of the mattress and slid them into her slippers, pulling her robe around her body as she walked down the stairs, to see Luke on the porch through the living room window.

"What are you doing?" She asked, swinging the door open, and Luke almost dropped the large bag he'd been carrying.

"Geez, Lorelai." Luke admonished, putting the bag down by the stairs. "I went out and got some salt for the stairs and the driveway, it's going to snow tonight and it's not safe to be without it."

Lorelai sniffed the air suspiciously. "It's not going to snow."

"Channels, 6, 8, 9 and 11 are all reporting snow for tonight."

"Well, they're all going to be wrong. It's not going to snow." Lorelai said, turning on her heel and heading back into her house, making a mug of tea for Luke. She was by no means a domestic goddess, but she could throw a mug of water in the microwave and stir a teabag like nobody's business. After a few more minutes, Luke came inside, hanging his coat on the rack while Lorelai met him in the foyer carrying his mug. "Morning, handsome," she told him as she leaned forward to peck his cheek and hand him his tea.

"Thank you," he smiled as he took the mug from her.

"You didn't kiss me goodbye before you left the house this morning."

"I didn't leave the house, the salt was in my truck."

"I woke up alone and sad," she pouted, mostly teasing.

Luke gave Lorelai a soft smile before he leaned in and left a lingering kiss on her lips, his mouth warm from the tea.

"Good morning. Did that make it up to you?"

"I don't know, why don't you try it again." She requested and he obliged. "The sad part is, I woke up alone and sad for no reason, because it's not even going to snow tonight."

"It's going to snow tonight."

"My nose is never wrong!" Lorelai teased.

It didn't snow that night. It didn't snow the next night either. Luke Danes had never been more antsy for the snow, and, well, a watched forecast never delivers. And so the ring sat, nestled in the back of Luke's sock drawer, collecting lint against the smooth velvet of it's box. As November dwindled away, Luke found himself thinking less about the family he was looking forward to and more about the family he left behind. As he and Lorelai sat in bed the night of November 29th, Luke realized he couldn't not say anything, and he spoke up.

"Lorelai?"

"It's not going to snow tonight." Lorelai said, not looking up from her book.

"I know, hon. Could I talk to you for a second?"

The tone of his voice had Lorelai growing concerned. "What's wrong?" She asked, reaching for his hand and grasping it in her own.

"Tomorrow's the anniversary of my dad's death." He admitted.

"Ugh, oh, hon." Lorelai said, failing to come up with some sort of comforting platitude, but what was there, really? Nothing Lorelai could say would make this any easier for Luke.

"And every year on that anniversary I, uh, I disappear. I don't work. I don't talk to anyone. I get in this kind of a funk. Its like I'm -"

"You have a dark day." Lorelai finished the sentence for him.

"Yeah, I have a dark day. I thought I should tell you this because we're in a relationship and I thought you might wonder why I suddenly don't answer the phone or I'm not around. Why you can't flip your hair and con me into getting my picture taken for Christmas cards or eating mallomars before dinner or whatever antics you had planned for tomorrow that I'm pre-emptively ruining."

"The hair flip is that effective, huh?"

"Combine that with your black dress and you could probably get me to be your backup dancer."

"I'll remember that."

"I've never told anyone this before. I don't really like to talk about it."

"Thank you for telling me. And Luke, I'll give you your space if that's what you need, because I love you, and I respect you, but I just want to remind you that you're not alone anymore. I'm here, and Rory's here, and we both want to do whatever we can to make the day easier for you, okay? Even if that just means giving you your space."

"Thank you, Lorelai," he said, maneuvering his body in bed so he could kiss her temple. "You have no idea how good it is to hear that."

"Just don't forget to kiss me before you leave."

"I wouldn't dream of it."

Lorelai woke up the next morning to a cold bed, but she groggily remembered the kiss as she wiped the sleep away from her eyes. She trotted downstairs to the smell of coffee, wondering if she'd somehow catch Luke before he snuck away. He'd left, but he'd left a fresh pot of coffee and a note before he'd gone. Lorelai pulled the sticky note off of the carafe and pulled it closer to her face so she could read it.

" _For my girls. Remember that I love you. Luke._ "

Lorelai smiled sadly, knowing how hard today must be for him. Just as she was going to grab herself a mug, Rory emerged from her bedroom.

"Are you awake before Dad?" Rory asked tiredly, letting her nose lead her to the coffee, and then to the note. "Mom… what is this? Did Dad leave?" She asked, hurt and panic starting to rise in her voice.

"No, Rory, no, no, no, of course not." Lorelai said, rushing to comfort her daughter before the situation got out of hand.

"Where is he?"

"I don't know, sweetie."

"You don't know where he is?"

"Rory, calm down." Lorelai said. "Today's the anniversary of Luke's dad's passing. He's just taking a day to be alone, and to grieve… He's not going anywhere. You know that, Rory. I know that you know that about him."

"Just scared me a little. Wouldn't be the first time I woke up without a dad in the house."

"I know sweetie. He'll be back by tomorrow, I'm sure."

"I feel bad that he's sad and we can't do anything."

"I know, but we've got to let him handle this his way. It's all going to be fine. Just a weird day." Lorelai consoled her daughter, sniffing a little. "Oh! I smell it."

"You think so? Forecast isn't calling for snow today."

"Rory, has my nose ever been wrong?"

"No, but."

"No buts. It's going to snow today. Go get dressed or you'll miss your bus, and you definitely don't want to miss your bus because I'm not letting you drive home in the snow." Lorelai teased as she went back upstairs to get ready for work.

Rory got ready in a hurry and rushed to her bus, pulling out her cell phone and calling Luke as soon as she got to her seat.

"Are you alright?" Luke asked as he picked up the phone, knowing it was unlike Rory to call him, especially while she was on the bus, and especially knowing the circumstances of his day.

"You're waiting for the first snow, aren't you?"

"What?"

"You're waiting for the first snow to propose to my mom."

"Uh, yeah." He said, a little flustered.

"It's today, Luke."

"Forecast isn't calling for snow today."

"She smells it. It's today. Sorry to bother you on your dark day but I really didn't want to wait another year for you to propose to my mom… I've kind of been waiting for years now."

Luke chuckled a little. "Thanks kid."

"I've got to go, the bus is getting kind of crowded with people who hate me for making noise so early in the morning. Bye dad, love you. Good luck!" She said, not waiting for Luke's response before she hung up the phone.


	36. Chapter 36

Lorelai peeked out of the window of her office at the inn. It still wasn't snowing, but it was getting closer, she could tell. She frowned a little. Normally she and Rory took a walk in the first snow of the season, but she was at school, and somehow Lorelai doubted that a winter stroll would be an acceptable reason for an excused absence. She'd take Luke, but he was having his dark day. She sighed a little, wishing she could help him but knowing that Luke could handle himself. She went to the kitchen to get herself a cup of coffee from Sookie when she saw the first few flakes fall from the window.

"Sook, it's snowing!"

"I know, you've been waiting all day for this. I'm putting some gingerbread in the oven now for cookies later. Why don't you go take your snow walk?"

"It'll have to be a quick one, I didn't bring gloves or anything."

"So let it be a quick one! You're Lorelai Gilmore, you don't break tradition. I'm sure Michel can hold down the fort here for a little while."

"Alright, you talked me into it. I'll be back in an hour tops."

"Don't get frostbite."

"I'll try my best." Lorelai smiled as she went back to her office to get her winter coat and then walked out of the front door of the inn to see a familiar green truck, and a familiar green coat. "What are you doing here?" She asked Luke as they walked closer to each other.

"It's the first snow of the season, and Rory's in school, so I'm here for your walk. I know you don't break tradition, and I figured you'd want some company. Put these on," he said, handing her a hat and a pair of gloves.

"You're supposed-"

"Shh. Just enjoy the snow," he said, as he took her hand and led her on their stroll. Lorelai let him take the lead, enjoying the snow but also wondering what Luke was doing here. After about fifteen minutes of walking, she couldn't take it anymore.

"It's your dark day." She said as they continued to walk.

"It is," he confirmed, as he stopped walking. Lorelai looked around and took in the scenery of an old, dilapidated building coated in a thin coat of the magic white fluff that had always meant good things for Lorelai Gilmore.

"It's your dark day, but you came to walk me around in the snow, and you brought me to the Dragonfly."

"Looks pretty with the snow on it, don't you think? It could be a Christmas card."

"Luke… I love that you came here to do this with me, but are you okay? I know today is hard for you." She said.

"Yes, Lorelai, today is my dark day," he said, as he led her up the stairs of the Dragonfly. "Today is my dark day, and I went to my parent's graves, and I talked to them, and I grieved. And normally, after I went to visit my parents graves, I'd go back to my apartment, and I'd wallow, and I'd do anything to avoid seeing other people, and I'd sit all today and wake up tomorrow and open the diner and pretend like nothing happened. But I don't want to do that today. Today, I went, and I grieved for my parents, and I thought to myself 'I want to go home to my girls.' That's all I've ever wanted. That's... everything to me. That's all I need, all I will ever need. Lorelai, I want to wake up every morning next to you. I want to kiss you good morning. I want your face to be the first thing I see. I want to make you and Rory coffee, every morning, for the rest of my mornings. I want to go into work and wonder when you're going to come in for your first cup of coffee. Well, really your fifth cup of coffee, but I'll pretend for my own sake that you didn't have four cups before you came in."

Lorelai chuckled a little. "Luke, where is this-"

"Shh," he told her. "I want to kiss you goodbye, and I want everyone in the diner to know that you're my girl, you're the only girl for me. I want to make you lunch and listen to you complain about Michel and I want to help you figure things out for the Dragonfly. I want to be the person who pours the afterschool cup of coffee for you and Rory, every single day. I want to come home at night when Rory's studying and you're reading and I want to make dinner, and I want to eat it as a family, and then I want to sit through the ridiculous movie marathons and make sure Rory gets to sleep okay, and then I want to go to bed with you, every single night, for the rest of my nights. I want a life with you, Lorelai. I want the whole package." He said, getting onto one knee on the wraparound porch of the Dragonfly. "If there's one thing you've proven to this whole town, it's that you and Rory don't need anybody. You're both fiercely independent and headstrong, and I admire you for that. Lorelai, you may not need me, but I need you. I've seen what my life is like with you, and what it's like without you, and now that I have you, I can't go back. I need you, Lorelai. The life we have together is all I'll ever need. Marry me." He opened the velvet box he'd retrieved from his pocket, and when Lorelai saw the ring she nearly fell over.

"Is it my turn to talk now?" Lorelai asked quietly, nearly in tears.

"Yes," Luke breathed out.

"Yes, Luke, a million times yes."

Luke smiled, laughing in relief as he stood up and pulled Lorelai into a hug, wrapping his arms around her waist as she wrapped his around her neck. He spun her around and put her back on the ground before kissing her once, pulling back to look at her and make sure he wasn't dreaming.

"God, is this real?" Lorelai asked.

"It had better be," Luke said. "Here, let me put the ring on your finger," he said, opening the box again as she slipped her glove off. Both of their hands were shaking, but he managed to slip the ring over her finger.

"It's perfect, Luke. Everything is perfect."

"Do you need to get back to work?"

"I can't go back to work today, all I'd be able to do is stare at this giant rock on my finger," she teased, laughing breathlessly.

"You'd better put your glove back on, if you get frostbite and we have to cut the finger off you'll have nowhere to wear the ring."

"Can I wear the ring over the glove?"

"It won't fit, and then it will fall off, and then you'll have no ring to look at," he warned as they started walking back towards the inn.

"You didn't buy a backup ring?" Lorelai teased.

"I thought I could just do a really good job on the first ring, and that would motivate you not to lose it."

"You did do a really good job."

"Thank you."

"Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"We need you, too. Me and Rory."

"Good. It's good to be needed."

"It's good." She agreed. "You know what else is good?"

"What?"

"I love you."

"You're right. That's good. Really, really good."


	37. Chapter 37

Lorelai snuck out of the inn for the day without saying anything to anyone, not even Sookie. She couldn't tell anyone before she told Rory. While she was gathering her things from her office, Lorelai's cell phone buzzed, and her caller ID told her it was a call from Chilton. Everything stopped and she flipped the phone open immediately, hoping and praying that her child was safe. At the same moment. Luke walked into her office, and the fear in her eyes struck a chord somewhere in his heart that he didn't know was possible. He crossed the room in an instant, his eyes begging for answers to the questions in hers.

"Rory's school," she mouthed, and after a moment, far too long of a moment, she let out a sigh of relief, hanging up the phone. "They're letting them out early, too much snow. It was an automated phone call… We never got one of those from Stars Hollow High, they just let the kids go and Rory would walk home… Scared me a little."

"Let's go get her."

"You want to drive in this?" She said, gesturing to the fat, fluffy flakes that were falling just outside her window.

"After the scare you just gave me, I'd like to make sure she gets home safe myself."

"Sorry. Scared me too."

"I know it did," he told her, squeezing her still-gloved left hand. "You all set here?"

"Yeah, let's go." She said, not releasing his hand as they walked out of the inn. "I should probably bring the jeep home first. I don't want it to get stuck here in the snow."

"Call Rory, too. Make sure she doesn't get on the bus."

"Oh, yeah, that'd be bad."

"Alright, so I'll see you at home then." He said, not making a move.

"Yeah," She said, also not moving.

"Cars… we need cars to drive," he said, his focus obviously elsewhere. Smiling, Lorelai rolled forward onto her tiptoes to kiss him.

"Luke?"

"Yeah."

"We're getting married," she reminded him, smiling.

"Yeah, we are." He smiled back at her.

"Luke. Married..You and me...Luke-table-for-one-Danes and Lorelai-I'm-sorry-can-I-get-an-industrial-forklift-for-my-emotional-baggage-Gilmore are getting married."

"Does that, uh… are you… scared? Because we could take a minute to-"

"No."

"Good," he smiled at her.

"So… what do we do now?"

"Let's go get Rory."

"I don't want to get in the car without you," She pouted.

Luke ran his thumb over her gloved ring finger, pausing as he felt the stone jut out against the yarn. "You have the rest of your life to annoy me in the car," he told her softly. "We've just got to get the Jeep home."

"You're going to have to wear one too, you know."

"What?" He asked her, confused.

"A ring. You'll get one too. That's how this whole thing works."

"Yeah, I will."

"You've never been much of a jewelry-wearing kind of guy."

"Yeah, well, I think this is a pretty good exception." He told her, smiling before he kissed her cheek, which was rosy from the cold.

"The best exception I can think of."

"Get in you car before we get frostbite, crazy lady."

Lorelai finally heeded his advice, smiling the whole way to her car and following Luke out of the parking lot and back to their home. Their home. Of course, it was their home before they'd been engaged, but now it was their forever-home. It wasn't the home she invited her boyfriend into, it was the home she shared with her fiance, and soon, her husband. She stepped out of the Jeep, still smiling.

"If I had known I could make you this happy with a ring, I would've proposed a long time ago." He teased as she climbed into the truck.

"You can't possibly have thought that it wouldn't make me happy. And you wouldn't have proposed any sooner."

"What makes you so sure I wouldn't do it sooner?"

"Because that's not who you are, Luke. You think things through, you make calculations, you think, you measure. You don't dive in headfirst, you're the definition of 'slow and steady wins the race.'"

"There was nothing calculated about falling in love with you, Lorelai Gilmore. It's always been you. From the first moment I met you, it's always been you. I dove in headfirst, although I can't pretend it was through any choice of my own."

"Luke… If Dean hadn't ever hurt Rory… do you think you ever would've asked me out? If we hadn't kissed that day in the hospital?"

"Would you have broken it off with Max?"

"What?"

"If Dean hadn't laid a hand on her… if he hadn't kept that from you," Luke said, his jaw tightening due to his anger at that situation, which still frustrated him when he thought about it. "Would you still have married him?"

"I never loved him. I loved that he seemed to love me and Rory, and God, I wanted to love him, but I never did… but I still might have married him. And I hate that that's true… That's not the kind of woman I am. I don't just get married because I want to wear a pretty dress and because I'm a woman of a certain age. That's not me. I might have married him, but it never would've lasted."

"It would've just about killed me, but I would've stayed away if you'd married Max. I want you happy, Lorelai. More than I want to be your husband and Rory's stepfather, I want to be the man who makes the two of you happy. I would've stepped back, filled your coffee cups, and made sure you were happy."

Lorelai felt her heart break because she knew he was telling the truth. He would've stayed silent about his feelings for her for the rest of his life if it kept her happy. "That kills me," she told him, no longer smiling. "Thinking about that… Thinking about a life without you in it… I could never be truly happy that way. I could make do, and be happy enough, but nothing could make me happy the way that you do." She told him, her voice breaking.

"Hey, hey," he said softly, reaching for her hand. "You've got me, okay? I'm right here, and I'm not going anywhere. That's kind of what I was trying to tell you with the ring," he joked, and she chuckled a little through her tears. "You're not supposed to be upset today. Today's a good day. Today's the first day that I get to call you my fiance."

"You said husband earlier… You called yourself my husband… I really, really liked that." She told him, smiling again, although there were unshed tears still settled in the corners of her eyes.

"I really, really like that too," he told her softly, squeezing her hand.


	38. Chapter 38

The next night, it was just Luke and Rory in the house. The three of them had spent the night of the engagement celebrating and spending time together as a family, but Sookie had insisted that Lorelai come over for a celebratory meal and a glass of wine the following evening after seeing her ring that morning at work. Rory was in her bedroom with the door open working on some homework when Luke tapped his knuckles against the doorframe.

"Hey kid, any thoughts on dinner?"

"If you promise not to tell anyone, I could eat a salad."

"Are you feeling alright? Do I need to take you to a doctor?" He asked sarcastically.

"Hey, that's exactly why you can't tell anyone. I have the Gilmore Legacy to uphold.

"I can make your secret salad," he smiled at her. "What are you working on?"

"Just some history stuff. I'm done for the night, actually. Want some help with dinner?"

"Sure," he said, stepping aside so she could step out of her bedroom and into the kitchen. She headed straight for the fridge and started pulling out vegetables, while Luke reached for a package of raw chicken and spread some olive oil into a pan to cook it. There was a comfortable silence for a while, and when Luke looked over and saw Rory chopping up the lettuce and sliding it into a large bowl, he couldn't help but feel his heart rush with pride and gratitude that this incredible young woman had allowed him into her life as she had.

"Hey, Rory…" he said, and she quickly turned to look at her, noticing the change in the tone of her voice.

"Yeah?" She asked nervously.

"I asked your mom to marry me," he started, and Rory laughed a little, the nervousness falling out of her face.

"You did," she chuckled.

"And that's a pretty big commitment."

"One of the biggest, I'd say."

"And uh, your mom got a ring but I figured she wasn't the only one who should get something shiny out of all of this." He said, sliding a box across the kitchen counter towards Rory. She opened it to reveal a small diamond pendant necklace and looked up at him, smiling. "I figured that ring that I put on your mom's finger shows a pretty big commitment, and I wanted you to have something that shows that, too."

"You didn't have to do this," she said appreciatively.

"I wanted to. I want you and this whole town to know how committed I am to you and your mom. And I like spoiling my girls. You deserve to be spoiled," he smiled.

"And spoiled we are." She smiled.

"And you'll continue to be for as long as I can help it."

"Thank you for this, Dad. I love it. And I love it even more for what it means. Would you, uh, would you put it on me?"

"Oh, sure, of course." He said, crossing the room and standing behind her as she pulled her hair up off of her neck. She felt the diamond settle against her collarbone and the chain followed suit on her neck. "You're all set," Luke told her softly and she turned around, putting her arms around him and pulling her into a hug, which he returned, realizing that he didn't have to crouch like he did when she was small. When she stepped away he was struck by how grown up she looked, with the diamond around her neck and her hair in loose waves as a result of the abandoned French braid from that morning at school. "Whatever happened to the little girl who begged me to attend a caterpillar's funeral?" Luke murmured, more to himself than to her as he turned back to the pan.

"What was that?" Rory asked, knowing full well what he'd said but wondering if he'd own up to it.

"Oh, nothing," he dismissed, confirming her suspicions as they went back to the meal prep.

"I hardly had to beg," she argued.

"Ah geez," he said. "Of course you didn't have to beg, you went straight to the pout. How could anyone say no to the pout?"

"I hate to break it to you, Dad, but you're more susceptible to the pout than anyone else in town."

"I think I can live with that. Get us a couple of plates, will you?" He requested as he put a couple of forks and knives on the table for them to eat. They set the table and sat down, eating in a comfortable silence. Luke wasn't much of a talker, and unlike her mother, Rory didn't feel the need to fill every silence with as many words as possible.

"Hey, how was your calculus test?" Luke asked, remembering the event that had inspired violent pencil throwing and subsequent pie-consumption in the diner a few days earlier.

"It went okay. I got a 93."

"That sounds more than just okay to me," Luke told her, knowing that Rory would take any opportunity she could to be hard on herself for her grades. She was just like her mother: always looking at her shortcomings and never at all of her accomplishments, and it killed him that they did that to themselves.

"Yeah, I mean, it's an A, so I should be happy, but I lost a couple of points for stupid errors like subtracting wrong. And the AP test isn't going to be as forgiving as my teacher is."

"I'd say getting 90% of the problems right on the AP test would put you in pretty good shape."

"Yeah, you're probably right. I understand calculus. I don't need to stress about it."

"Wow, all of my constant platitudes have finally gotten through to you."

"I guess they have," she teased.

"Eat some fruit salad, it's good for you," he said, passing her the bowl of mixed fruits he'd cut up earlier. She knew better than to argue, and scooped a few strawberries onto her plate.

"I think I've eaten more healthy food in the months since you and mom got together than I did in my entire life beforehand."

"Yeah, well, jokes on you, because i've been putting vegetables into the patties of your burgers for years," Luke admitted, immediately realizing the mistake he'd made.

"No!" Rory gasped. "Oh, my god. You'd better make sure mom never finds out. The wedding would be so off," Rory teased.

"The wedding would not be off," he said, knowing she was joking. "I spent way too much time with you two not in my life to let either of you walk away now,"

"Agreed." Rory said, taking their empty plates and putting them into the sink, turning the water on and running over them with the soap and sponge as Luke cleared the table.


	39. Chapter 39

When the bells at the top of the diner door rang, Luke looked up and reached for a few menus instinctively, but smiled and put them away when he saw his girls walk through the door, bundled up in coats, hats, scarves and gloves. He traded the menus for a few large mugs of coffee and walked over to their normal table.

"God bless you," Lorelai said as she took the mug from him and brought it to her lips.

"Your hands are freezing," he told her, giving her a look of concern as she put her mug down.

"We've been outside all morning putting the lights up on the bushes and the porch," Rory explained to Luke while her mother inhaled her first cup of coffee.

"Slow down, you'll give yourself a stomachache." Luke told Lorelai almost instinctively.

"How many times do I have to tell you, baby. We have-"

"Ironclad stomachs." Luke finished her sentence, rolling his eyes sarcastically.

"Exactly. So, I'm going to inhale as many cups of coffee as I can before our fifteen minute break is over and then we're going to put up the lights on the second story windows of the house." Lorelai smiled up at him.

"No, you're not, you'll break your neck on that roof."

"It's _my_ roof." Lorelai countered. "I put the lights up every year."

"No, you don't. Every year you come here on your fifteen minute break and as soon as I catch wind of you thinking about climbing up the roof, I either talk you out of it or give you free pie until you decide that you're too stuffed to do it, and I sneak onto your roof and do it myself before you can work up the energy to decide to do it again."

Lorelai looked at Rory to see if this all added up. "He's right," she confirmed, and Lorelai gasped.

"You were in on it the whole time?" She asked, faking a betrayed tone.

"You're the only parent I've got, I would be in a pretty rough spot if you broke your neck."

"Damn you two, always trying to keep me safe and healthy."

Luke chuckled before he kissed the top of Lorelai's head. "I'll put up the second story lights tomorrow. We'll go pick up a tree when I'm out of work in a few hours. Don't get on any ladders until I'm home."

"Okay," she resigned herself.

"I'm holding you to that, you know." Rory told her mother when Luke walked away.

"Why?" Lorelai whined. "I just want it to be Christmas!"

"It will be. And if it's within my power, it will be Christmas without you in a cast, neck brace, or boot."

"We need to go out and get a few new things now that Luke's in the house… a stocking, little ornaments with his name on them to match ours."

Rory smiled. "That sounds nice. Do you want to go now, or do you think you can get another four cups of coffee in before Luke cuts you off?"

"Could I? Definitely yes. Do we have time before the mall closes? Probably not. Let's get going, kid."

* * *

Luke swung open the door that night to find the smell of smoke stinging his nose, and immediately felt his body tense.

"Lorelai! Rory!" He called out, wondering if one of them had tried to cook.

"We're in here," Lorelai called back, decidedly calm considering Luke was certain that the house was burning down as they spoke.

"Mom!" Rory's voice called out.

"Ah!" Lorelai gasped, and Luke heard a splash of water before he ran into the living room to find them sitting at the edge of the fireplace.

The fire in the fireplace was burning, which was dangerous enough considering how klutzy they both were. Luke looked in front of the fireplace and noticed the large bowl of water in front of Rory and the now-singed Christmas stocking in Lorelai's hands.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Luke asked them.

"Well, our Christmas stockings are burnt, and we wanted yours to match-" Lorelai started to explain.

"Are you insane? You could've burned the house down. You could've hurt yourself." Luke ranted, and while his speech was impassioned, Lorelai could tell that he was more scared than angry.

"Admittedly, this isn't one of our best plans." Rory said to her mother.

"What if I had come home twenty minutes later and the house was burned to the ground?"

"Luke, honey, calm down. We're both fine," Lorelai said, standing up and putting a hand on his chest to calm him. Luke exhaled deeply and Rory left the room, able to tell that he needed a minute.

"It just scares me… thinking about you two getting hurt. It scares me."

"I know, baby, I know, but you've got to learn to let go of that a little or it's going to crush you. You can't protect us from everything."

"Don't say that,"

"No, Luke, I'm going to say that because I think you need to hear it. Sometimes I do stupid things like light stockings on fire, and you probably won't be able to stop me from doing stupid, impulsive things, because stupid impulsive things are an important part of my personality, case in point being Rory. No one expects you to protect us from everything and you can't expect that from yourself."

"I know. I don't like it, but I know."

"Well, your stocking is dry enough now that we can hang it up," Lorelai smiled, hanging his stocking on a thumbtack she'd pressed into one of the bars on the stairs. Luke looked at his stocking, a nearly-perfect match to Lorelai's and Rory's, red and white with his name embroidered in gold along the top, and a few charred bits at the bottom.

"Luke, Lorelai, and Rory." Lorelai read aloud.

"Sounds perfect."

"Doesn't it?"

"I love you, crazy lady. Let's go pick out a tree before you set anything else on fire."


	40. Chapter 40

Luke Danes couldn't remember the last time he had celebrated Christmas. It was somewhere in between his mother's passing and his father's. Once his mom was gone, Luke could tell that his Dad's heart just wasn't in it anymore, but he pressed on for his kids. But when Liz went off the rails, and when his father had started to get sick, Christmas just sort of...slipped away from him. This year was different. This year, he wasn't eternal-bachelor-resident-grump Lucas Danes. This year, he was Luke Danes, fiance and soon-to-be-stepfather to Lorelai and Rory Gilmore, and those titles came with a whole new set of traditions, one of them being the Gilmore family Christmas Party on Christmas Eve. He'd closed the diner early and headed home to find both of his girls in the bathroom, pulling at their hair with brushes and hot tools that he didn't know the name of.

"Ouch," Rory whispered as she pulled her hand away from the hot metal she was using to curl her hair.

"Put the glove on when you use that thing," Luke chastised, and both girls jumped.

"God, Dad, give a girl a warning," Rory said half sarcastically as her heart rate slowed to normal and she returned to her hair.

"Oh no, Luke, you're not supposed to see us like this! You're supposed to think that we look naturally radiant all the time."

"And I do."

"Smooth," Lorelai smirked at him. "Go get dressed, we have to leave in an hour."

"I think I'll be able to swing it," he teased as he let them get back to her primping. He took a quick shower before changing into his dress pants and a button down.

"Lorelai," he called down the hallway.

"Yeah?" She called back.

"What color are you wearing?"

"What?" Lorelai called back, confused.

"What color are you wearing? I don't want to clash."

"Green," she called back.

"We need to leave soon," he called to her.

"We're almost done in here," Rory called back, as Lorelai's mouth was currently occupied with a few bobby pins.

Luke went downstairs once he was done and sat on the couch waiting for the two of them. As promised, they came downstairs a few minutes later. Lorelai in a long-sleeved green dress with a large black necklace and Rory in a sleeveless red dress covered in black lace.

"You two look really nice." He told them, smiling.

"Good answer," Lorelai smiled back.

"Rory, you're going to freeze. Maybe you should grab a sweater."

"I have my peacoat. I'll be fine once I'm in the house. All those people, the fire, the champagne-"

"You can't drink champagne," Luke dismissed quickly. "She can't drink champagne, right?" Luke asked Lorelai. "She's sixteen. Way too young to be drinking-"

"Dad, dad, I was kidding." Rory interjected, laughing.

"Oh." Luke said, not really surprised that she'd been joking but surprised it had gone over his head. "Well I wasn't. No drinking till you're 30."

"Whatever you say," she teased.

"Alright you two, let's take this act on the road." Lorelai said, ushering them out the door. Luke drove them to Hartford, and was astounded by the number of cars in the driveway.

"How many people come to this Christmas party?" Luke asked incredulously as he parked his truck in between a Range Rover and a Benz.

"God, I'd say at least a hundred," Lorelai told him.

"Probably pushing 150," Rory added as they all stepped out of the car.

Luke let out a low whistle as they stood at the door and pressed the doorbell, ending it quickly when Emily opened the door.

"Rory, Lorelai," Emily said as the three of them walked in, giving them quick hugs. "Hello Luke," she said warmly.

"Merry Christmas, Mrs. Gilmore,"

"Please, call me Emily. You're my daughter's fiance, not the mechanic."

Luke chuckled a little before he corrected himself. "Merry Christmas Emily."

"Oh, Rory, I wanted to tell you, Logan Huntzberger is here. You remember him, don't you? He escorted you at your debutante ball. I know these parties can be dreadful for you where there's no one else around who's your age, so keep your eyes peeled for him, okay?"

"Thanks Grandma," Rory said as she peered around, venturing in the crowd to find him.

"Richard is at the drink cart if either of you are interested," Emily told Luke and Lorelai.

"Thanks Mom," Lorelai said as Luke placed a hand on the small of her back and led them that way. "That's the nicest she's been to you since the engagement," Lorelai whispered into Luke's ear once they were out of earshot.

"I guess she's finally coming around," Luke smiled at her as they made their way over to the drinks.

Meanwhile, Rory had spotted Logan. He was standing in the corner of a room, not saying much of anything, and Rory strode right up to him.

"It really sucks to be the only person under the age of 21 at one of these parties." Rory said to him before he even noticed she was there.

"Good news is it looks like now I've got company."

"Seems that way."

"You know, I never got that dance at your ball."

"I never promised you a dance."

"Your dad got in the way before you could."

"What makes you so sure I was going to say yes?"

"A man can dream… So how about that dance?"

"There's nowhere to dance here."

"A drink then. Come on," he said, whisking them into a more private room, away from the crowded party. Once there, he pulled a bottle of wine out of his coat and extended it to her.

"Oh, no thanks. My dad says I'm not allowed to drink until I'm thirty." Rory said earnestly.

"Come on, you can't let me drink alone."

"Sorry. I'm a bit of a stickler for the rules."

"I guess that brings us back to the dance then. Or is your dad also the pastor in the town from Footloose?"

"You've seen Footloose?" Rory chuckled.

"I have a sister," he told her as he grabbed her hand and put another on her waist. If they were quiet enough, they could hear the slow christmas music playing from the main room where the party was being held. After their dance, he led her to the couch. "So, Lorelai Leigh Gilmore… tell me what lies behind the painted-on face of a debutante."

* * *

There was only so much of this life that was so different from their own that Luke and Lorelai could take, so after about two hours, Luke and Lorelai started to share knowing, tired glances.

"You about ready to get going?" Luke asked Lorelai as he placed a hand on the small of her back.

"Yeah, we wouldn't want Santa to skip our house because we aren't all asleep."

"Hey, have you seen Rory at all? I haven't seen her since we got here."

"I'm sure she's fine. Why don't you go track down our coats and I'll find her."

"Okay. Don't you get lost too." he warned her.

"I'll do my best. Pretty big house."

"Yeah," he agreed, chuckling as they went in separate directions.

Rory was pretty sure she'd never been in the same room with a drunk person. Well, never _before_ this moment at least. Her mother didn't drink while she was in the house, and Luke never had more than one beer while she was awake. But she was pretty sure Logan was drunk. He was slurring his words in all of his stories about the various prep schools he'd attended. His movements were becoming more and more clumsy by the second, and as he grew clumsier, she grew more uncomfortable, but didn't know how to leave. She'd never had to excuse herself from a conversation with a drunk person before.

Lorelai was pretty sure that Rory didn't know any of the several escape routes from the Gilmore mansion that she herself had discovered when she was Rory's age or younger, but she couldn't be sure and she was starting to get nervous. She ran into Luke at the crossroads of two hallways and her concerned look gave her away.

"You haven't found her yet?"

"No sign."

"Okay, well, she's here somewhere. You go that way, I'll go this way."

Lorelai continued down the hall and peeked her head into a room, and that's when she saw them. Logan, with his hand on Rory's knee, leaning in closer to kiss her as Rory moved away.

"Rory!" Lorelai called and Logan jumped away from her. Luke closed the distance between himself and Lorelai in an instant, because truth be told he was starting to get nervous himself. When he saw them together on the couch, he thought for sure he was going to lose his mind. "Rory, sweetie. Come put your coat on, we're getting ready to go."

'Aw, you can't leave yet," Logan slurred, and Luke's jaw tightened. "I'm going to be all alone."

"Maybe you should take a quick nap," Lorelai advised, and Luke watched Rory as she hopped off the couch and crossed the room to them. She walked in a perfectly straight line. There was an open bottle of wine on the table but she must not have drank any of it. He smiled a little, but his concern grew again as he saw the worry in hers. As soon as they were clear from the doorway he knelt down to talk to her.

"Are you okay? Did he touch you? Did he-"

"No, dad, I'm fine. I'm fine. He tried to kiss me but I'm not upset about that, I've just never been in the same room as a drunk person before. It was just weird is all. I'm fine."

"He tried to kiss you?" Luke stood up, and Rory stopped him before he could rush back to the room they'd just left, knowing full well that he would want to give Logan a piece of his mind.

"And she's fine," Lorelai emphasized, knowing full well that Luke would go further than necessary to protect Rory and trying to save everyone involved from the embarrassment. "Let's just go home, okay? Rory, put your coat on," Lorelai said, guiding them out of the mansion.

"Did he try to get you to drink?" Luke asked as they climbed into the car, and Lorelai swatted at his chest, trying to get him to drop the subject.

"I told him my dad said I couldn't drink till I was thirty."

Luke smiled. "That's my girl."


	41. Chapter 41

Luke never thought he would see the day when Lorelai was dragging _him_ out of bed. More often than not it was the other way around. But this was Christmas morning. Christmas morning, he was learning, was the exception.

"Luke… Luke… It's Christmas," Lorelai whispered to him.

"It will still be Christmas in a couple of hours, go back to sleep."

"No, Luke, it's Christmas and you're missing it!' Lorelai whined.

"Is Rory even awake yet?" Luke asked, his voice groggy."

"I don't think so."

"Go back to sleep."

"I can't. I'm going to go make a cup of coffee and see if Santa came."

"Don't go snooping."

"I guess you'll have to get out of bed to stop me!" Lorelai teased as she pulled her robe over her pajamas and went downstairs.

Luke rolled onto his back and let out a low breath, willing himself to be awake as to not spoil Lorelai's fun. He found her downstairs, pouring herself a cup of coffee as Rory brought hers to her lips.

"Merry Christmas," Rory said softly, still waking up herself.

"Merry Christmas kiddo. Did your mom wake you up?"

"I don't think Santa would be very happy with me if I answered that question," Rory said, shooting a glance at her mother.

"Do you want me to make breakfast first or do you want to open presents?" Luke asked both women.

"Typically we do presents and then brunch." Lorelai said.

"Sounds good," Luke said, pulling an apple out of the bowl in the middle of the kitchen table and taking a bite out of it as Rory and Lorelai moved into the living room.

He followed them in, taking a seat on the couch as they walked around the tree in search of presents with their names on them. Luke realized what they were doing and started looking for gifts he'd wrapped for Lorelai and Rory. They divided the boxes amongst them before they sat down again, slowly making their way through the gifts: books and clothes for Rory from Luke and her mother, new kitchen stuff and tools for his toolbox for Luke, and coffee, clothes, and jewelry for Lorelai.

"Are you trying to tell me you don't want me wearing your shirts anymore?" Lorelai teased as she unboxed her third women's cut-flannel from Luke.

"This is much more a reflection on my inability to shop than it is on how much or how little I want you to wear my clothes," he said, smiling at her. She knew how much he loved her in his shirts.

"Well, I think that was the last one." Lorelai said, looking around to see if she could find any unopened presents. "Should we start breakfast?"

"Uh, actually Mom… I have one more gift for Luke, but could we have some privacy?"

Lorelai was stunned, and looked over at Luke. At the same moment, he looked over at her. They were both searching each other's eyes for answers, but neither had any to give. What could this possibly be about? And why did she call him Luke? She hadn't called him Luke in months.

"Sure, sweets. I'll be right upstairs." She said, standing up and kissing her daughter on the head, letting her hand run over Luke's shoulder before she made herself scarce.

Once she was gone, Rory went over to a desk in the foyer and pulled out a manilla envelope. Luke watched her carefully, trying to decipher what was going on.

"I have one more gift to ask you for… but it's a big one. A really big one. And I asked Mom to leave because I don't want her or me to influence this for you, so I'm just going to hand this over to you and not say anything else because I don't want to make you feel like you have to answer in a certain way. I'm just going to go to my room and you can take all the time you need to think about it, and if you think you need more time than just a day you can just make breakfast and we just don't have to talk about it-"

Luke was pretty sure Rory was still talking, but he knew it was rambling and tuned it out as soon as the envelope was in his hands. Whatever was in this envelope was big. So big that Rory had kept it from her mother, which was just not something that Gilmore Girls did. He opened the envelope and pulled out the thick sheets of paper they contained, complete with a seal of the state of connecticut emblazoned on the corner and the big, bold words printed at the top of the sheet.

 _ **Intention To Adopt a Legal Minor In The State of Connecticut**_

"Rory, are these-?"

"Adoption papers." She said, almost breathlessly. "So, I'll just-"

"Yes." He interrupted her without a moment of hesitation.

"Well, you don't have to answer so-"

"Yes."

"We can take a minute to-"

"No."

"So...what now?" Rory asked.

"I don't know, this is new for me."

"Me too."

"Rory… have you mentioned this to your mother at all?" Luke said, growing nervous that he'd told her yes to something he should've discussed with Lorelai first.

"I've mentioned it in the abstract and she seemed receptive, but she didn't know I was going to ask you today."

"We need to talk to her about this before we do anything else," he said, gesturing towards the stairs and letting her walk up first. She knocked gently on the bedroom door, and Lorelai told them to come in.

"Hey, kiddo," Lorelai said, extending her arms to her daughter, who quickly crawled into the bed and snuggled up next to her. "So, what are my two favorite people keeping secret from me?"

"Why don't you take a look for yourself," Luke said, passing her the folder. She quickly opened it up and skimmed the top of it.

'Who gave these to whom?" Lorelai asked.

"I gave them to Luke." Rory answered.

"Baby, can you give the two of us a minute?" Lorelai requested of her daughter, kissing her temple before Rory scurried out of the room. As soon as the door shut behind her, Lorelai turned her attention to her fiance.

"Luke, you don't have to-"

"Save it, I want to. So badly, Lorelai, I want to. If you don't want me to, that's fine… I don't understand it but that's fine. She's your kid… but you told me once that she's our kid, and I believe that, I really do. I want her to be our kid, and she wants to be our kid… How could I say no to that?"

"God, Luke… if this is what you want, of course it's what I want. Rory's a smart kid. She's always known that you're her real dad. She's always known that if she needed you, you'd be there. I want to talk to her first, though. Legally, I think we can do this. Christopher has never stayed for more than a week and never paid more than a dime… but this might be the end of their relationship. I want to make sure she knows that before we call a lawyer."

"That's rational," Luke nodded solemnly.

"Rory!" Her mother called into the house, waiting for her daughter to come back upstairs. After a moment, Rory stood in the doorway, and Lorelai gestured for her daughter to join her again in the bed. Luke settled himself at the edge of the bed, facing them, but not wanting to be the only person standing.

"Can I just ask you, sweetheart… why do you want Luke to adopt you? We're not saying yes or no… we just want to hear where your head's at. You know Luke loves you, you know in your heart that he's your real dad… why bother with the paperwork? Again. I'm not saying yes or no… we just want to hear your side of things."

"When I still went to Stars Hollow Elementary… every year on the Friday before Father's day, we spent the whole day doing crafts… macaroni ties, paper-mache baseball gloves, popsicle-stick picture frames… and every year I'd bring them all home and we'd put them in a box to god knows where, addressed to a man I barely know… Every year I wished that we just walked them down the street. Luke has always been my dad. I want to call him Dad in public. I want him to be my real dad. Not to make it morbid… but when you went into the hospital, I was scared. I was scared for you, but I was also scared that if you… if you didn't make it, that they'd take me away from Luke and I'd have to go live with Christopher… because legally, he's my dad. But he's not my dad, Luke is. I want it to be Luke."

Lorelai was moved to tears by her daughter's speech. Luke leaned over a little to put a hand on her thigh because he thought she might need the support.

"Rory, if this is what you want, I want to give it to you… Knowing that you feel this way about Luke is such a gift to me,"

"And me." Luke added.

"But I just want to make sure you understand that this might make your father really angry. He might not come back if we do this."

"Coming back would imply that he ever really came in the first place. He's been to Stars Hollow once, Mom. I'm really not concerned about ending this relationship, if you even can call it that. If I have to make a choice, I choose Luke. Hands-down, I choose Luke."


	42. Chapter 42

Luke and Lorelai stood on the steps of the Gilmore mansion nervously a couple of weeks later at lunchtime. Rory was back at school; they had thought it was better to have this conversation without Rory present in case it got ugly. A moment after they rang the bell, Emily herself appeared at the door.

"Oh, hi mom."

"Hello, you two come in, it's freezing out there."

"Yeah well, that's January in Connecticut for you."

"If it wasn't for all the god-awful people there, your father and I would be far, far south, away from all of this."

"Damn people," Lorelai sympathized as her mother took their coats and led the two of them to the sitting room, where Richard was sitting.

"Luke," Richard said as a hello.

"Richard," Luke returned.

"Hey dad, it's me, your only daughter, here in the flesh!"

"I was getting to you, Lorelai. How are you doing?"

"Well, thank you. How are you?"

"I'm doing well myself. You two said you had a legal matter you wanted to discuss?"

Lorelai felt a lump form in her throat. Of course, they'd driven all the way to Hartford for exactly this reason. She knew it was coming, but she was still nervous. Luke put his hand on top of hers to comfort her. She gathered her strength and spoke up.

"Rory asked Luke to adopt her. And Luke would like to do that… we just aren't sure about-"

"Christopher." Richard finished. He shared a glance with Emily and Lorelai took a deep breath. "From a legal standpoint, there shouldn't be any real issues." Richard told them, and Luke and Lorelai simultaneously let out a breath of relief. "It could get messy, though. Any judge will side with Luke, given Christopher's track record… But Christopher might fight it. He hasn't been active in her life, but he still likes to believe that he has a daughter out there somewhere, waiting for him to call or visit."

"If we have to fight, we'll fight. This is what we want. This is what we all want. Rory is worth fighting for." Luke interjected resolutely.

"Well, then it's settled. I suggest the two of you call Christopher. Set up a face-to-face meeting, explain what's going on. See if he'll acquiesce calmly. I'll call my lawyer today and we'll start getting things together."

"Mom, you're awful quiet over there," Lorelai said. She knew she was poking the bear, and Luke shot her a look for it, but if her mother was going to explode, she wanted it to happen now, when she'd emotionally prepared herself for it.

"It's just… a lot of emotions. It's very bittersweet. I had always hoped that you and Christopher would find your way back to each other, and this is kind of like the kiss of death on that pipe dream… but I know that Luke is better for you than Christopher ever would have been. I'm very glad you found that, Lorelai."

"Me too," Lorelai smiled at her mother and fiance.

* * *

"So… if I were to vomit on Christopher, do you think that would make him more or less receptive to all of this?" Lorelai asked Luke as they drove into New Haven for their dinner with Christopher.

"Please don't vomit on me."

"If we're going to be together for the rest of our lives," she said, waving her ring in his face briefly, "You should probably get used to the idea of me vomiting."

"Why, do you vomit often?"

"No, I'm just saying that it might happen eventually."

"I just don't want you to vomit directly on me. I don't think that's too much to ask."

"In sickness and in health."

"Oh, they take those things that seriously?"

She smiled sadly before she spoke up again. "I'm nervous."

"I know you are. It's going to be fine."

"He's going to be awful."

"You don't know that."

"It's going to be awful. It always is. He convinces me that he's changed but he never does."

"Is that, uh… Is that what you want? Kind of like what your mom said to us last week… do you want him to change so that you two can-"

"Oh god, Luke, no. Not at all. Not for a second do I pick him over you. Not in a million different alternate universes do I pick him. I pick you, every time. I just wish he was a better dad for Rory. I wish he didn't think he could just come and go. Because she could handle it if it was just one, the coming or the going. But she never knows what to expect, and that kills her. She's such a planner, you know? She's going to go to Harvard. She's going to get her journalism degree. She's going to be the next Christiane Amanpour. She's got it all planned out, and her father, her own father, can't even see three hours into his future."

"I really hate this guy."

"Promise me you aren't going to let anything he says get to you."

"What do you mean?"

"Promise me you aren't going to let him make you think that you aren't enough for me, or that you don't make me happy. Promise me that you won't let him get to you if he starts saying stuff about me to get a rise out of you."

"I know what we have… I'm not insecure in that. But I can't make any promises as to how I'll react if he starts talking about you… I can't let him talk about you the way that I know you let him talk to you. I can't do that. It's not the kind of guy I am, and it's not the kind of woman you are."

"Just don't throw any punches in the restaurant."

"I'll make sure to take it outside."

"Looks like we're here."

"We don't have to go in if you're not ready."

"No, I want to get this over with." Lorelai grumbled as she stepped out of the car.

"You look amazing," he whispered to her as they walked through the parking lot, and she smiled. She liked to dress up for him.

"And all yours," She whispered back.

"I must be the luckiest man in the world."

"I love sappy Luke."

"Sappy Luke loves his fiance," he told her as he pulled open the door of the restaurant and let her enter in front of him.

"Suddenly feeling a lot less lucky," Lorelai whispered to Luke as they spotted Christopher and walked over to their table. Christopher was just as tense as they were. They ordered a bottle of wine and prattled on about nothing in particular, waiting for the first glass of Chardonnay to hit before they got into the heavy stuff.

"Chris, I'm sure you wondering why we asked you to come out tonight." Lorelai started.

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't."

"I want you to really think about what I'm about to tell you, okay? Let's try and not be rash."

"Okay…" Chris said nervously.

"I've always left your relationship up to you and Rory. The door has always been open to you. You've hardly ever used it."

"I don't know how much I miss her until I see her… it's easier this way."

"Maybe for you, but I think it's really taken a toll on her."

"What do you mean?"

"Christopher… I think Rory's ready to close that door. She asked Luke if he would adopt her."

"No," Christopher said in a hushed whisper.

"Of course, we all want Rory to be happy, and I think we could reach an agreement where-" Luke piped in, but he was interrupted.

"No." Christopher said more resolutely this time.

"Christopher, you told me you'd listen-"

"Yeah, well, I'm done listening. If she was hurting, you should've told me."

"Oh no, you don't get to put this on her." Luke interjected.

"She needed you to want that relationship with her, Chris. She needed you to want her. You never did." Lorelai tried to explain.

"Why did you even bring this guy? It's none of your business what happens to Rory."

"It sure as hell is my business," Luke growled.

"Okay, guys, please." Lorelai tried to de-escalate the situation.

"Rory is my daughter. Mine."

"Oh, really? Well, where the hell were you when she got the chicken pox and would only eat mashed potatoes for a week? Where were you when she was learning to ride a bike? Where were you at her debutante ball?

"Luke, please, this isn't the place-"

"Where I was doesn't concern you. Rory is my daughter, and Lorelai's daughter, and that's it."

"Well, I'm with Lorelai." Luke said possessively.

"For now," Christopher sneered.

"What's that supposed to mean? Is that a threat?"

"I'm just saying, you should know Lorelai well enough to know her pattern."

"What pattern?" They both spat out.

"She had a kid with me and ran. She got engaged to Rory's teacher and ran. What's it going to take to get her to run this time? She's going to let you adopt Rory and then she's going to run?"

"Hey, buddy, as I remember it, you were the one doing the running." Lorelai interjected on her own behalf. "I said no to your proposal. But I didn't hop onto a plane and fly off to California at the first chance I got. However, you did. You left with Rory without a father. I didn't take her father away from her. So yeah, I ran one time. I ran from Max because I knew I was in love with Luke. If I had never met Luke, I wouldn't have ran. I would've married him and listened to him ramble about Proust and had his babies and we would've led mostly happy but almost entirely separate lives. But I knew Luke. I knew I had someone special. I knew I had someone really good for us. So I ran. I ran, and I found my way to Luke, and I'm staying here, and this is permanent, and Luke is adopting Rory."

"Fat chance."

"I will fight you for this," Luke warned Christopher. "I will fight you to the bitter end for this, because I made a commitment to these women, and I love them. So we can fight, or you can give me a call in a few days when you've cooled down and we can take care of this calmly. We're leaving."

"Yeah, well, good luck. You'll see soon the handful that she can be."

"Okay, that's it," Luke said, turning back around to face Christopher.

"Luke," Lorelai warned.

"Yes. She's a handful. She drinks too much coffee and eats too many burgers and works too much and stresses too much and she is freakishly linked with Rory in a way I will never understand. And that is what I signed up for. That is what makes Lorelai the amazing woman that she is. Lorelai is driven and ambitious and compassionate, words I'm sure you don't understand. Lorelai is a handful, and I am so, so, lucky to be kept busy by her and her antics. She and Rory are the best things that have ever, will ever happen to me. And I'm done watching you treat them like this. I'm done watching you walk in and out of their lives. This isn't over. I'm not done fighting for them. I'll talk to you soon, Christopher," Luke said, putting a hand on the small of Lorelai's back and leading her out of the restaurant.


	43. Chapter 43

Luke rushed Lorelai out to the car wordlessly, not wanting to say anything else that might make her more upset. He opened the door for her and helped her climb into the truck, but still she said nothing, not even looking at him as she climbed in. They drove for a moment, but they were only barely out of the parking lot when Luke spoke up.

"You don't go radio silent on me very often. I may tease that I miss the quiet I had before, but uh… I don't miss it all that much. Especially not right now."

Lorelai opened her mouth to speak but only a gentle sob came out. She batted at her tears, trying to push them away before he saw them, but it was too late.

"Lorelai," Luke whispered.

"It's not-" she sobbed out. "I'm not even upset. I mean, I am, of course I am. But all my life, I was too much, you know? Too loud to be a private-school kid. Too smart to hang out with the girls. Too pretty to hang out with the guys. Too brash to be a Gilmore. Too demanding, too stubborn, too quick-witted. Too much. I was always too much. And then I had Rory, and she had no frame of what "too much" really meant, so she accepted me for me, but she didn't really have a choice. But you, Luke. You've never asked me to be anything less than just me. Normally Christopher makes me feel so small, but tonight I knew. I knew that the love you have for Rory and for me wasn't going to be made small by him. It's just, uh. It's a lot."

"You are all of those things. You are loud, and smart, and very pretty. You can be brash, and demanding and stubborn. You're quick witted for sure. But you could never be too much for me, Lorelai. You are exactly the woman I need you to be. You are the woman I chose, the woman I want to spend the rest of my life choosing. You could never be too much."

"Thank you."

"Nothing to thank me for."

"What are we going to do?"

"We're going to fight, Lorelai. He wants a fight, we'll give him a fight. Let's let it rest for a few days, though. Maybe he'll call and realize how unreasonable he's been."

"Maybe. I don't think we should tell Rory about any of this,"

"No, of course not. No point in upsetting her."

"Right."

"We're going to do this, okay, Lorelai? This is all going to work out because this is what Rory wants."

"This is what she deserves. A father who cares about her."

"Still trying to wrap my head around it."

"What do you mean?"

"Just really lucky, is all. She's a good kid. Never really saw myself as the 'Dad' type, but uh… she's a good kid. Glad to be her dad."

"You old softie."

"Keep that to yourself, I've got a reputation to uphold."

"Keeping it all to myself. You're all mine."

"All I ever wanted to be."

"I think I'll go wedding dress shopping this weekend."

"Yeah?"

"Try and occupy Rory's mind with other things."

"Good to know that that's why you're planning our wedding, to distract Rory."

"Oh, hush you."

"Will you send me pictures?"

"No."

"Will you let Rory send me pictures?"

"Definitely no."

"Are you gonna bring it back to the house?"

"I might have before, but definitely not now."

"You're really gonna make me wait, huh?"

"Yep."

"You sure we can plan all of this in six months?"

"You were the one who just complained about waiting."

"I know, but weddings are a lot, right?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"I just want you to have everything you want. This is the only one you're getting, because I'm not letting you divorce me."

"Is that how that works? I don't think that's how that works."

"Better for me that you don't know."

"Well, if I divorce you, who's going to make my coffee?"

"You keep that in mind."

* * *

Tulle. Lorelai was drowning in tulle. No, this ginormous ivory monstrosity was most certainly _not_ her dress. Ball gowns were certainly out of the question. That wasn't her. The tulle she could handle, but the billowing skirt was just too much. She managed to free herself from the ocean of synthetics in order to try on a much simpler gown. Still tulle, but considerable less of it, with a wrap-around front and a sweetheart neckline. Subtle beading accented the seam at her waist, which managed to maintain the dress's feminine edge without sacrificing its smooth, sheath silhouette. She opened the dressing room door and walked out to Sookie and Rory, the dress's soft train pooling behind her when she stopped.

"Wow, Lorelai." Sookie said first.

"I haven't looked at it in the mirror yet, wanted to hear your opinions first. Kid?"

"You've got to look at it, mom." Her daughter instructed her, pointing her towards a set of three angled mirrors that would enable her to view herself from different angles.

"Wow," she breathed out.

"Yeah, wow." Sookie agreed.

Lorelai batted at a tear. "It just uh… it just hit. I'm gonna marry Luke. I'm gonna walk down the aisle and he's going to be standing there."

"That's a sign. You didn't say that about any of the other dresses. That's your dress." Rory urged.

"Well, the kid has spoken," Lorelai let out a tearful, but happy laugh.

"Well, I mean. If that's what you want."

"No, it is," Lorelai smiled at her daughter. "They probably want me to take it off so I can pay for it."

"Well, you can't go home in it. Luke'll see." Rory advised.

"Oh, Sook, can we keep it at your place? Luke's been asking me questions all week and I don't trust him not to peek while I'm out."

"Of course. What kind of BFOTB would I be if I said no?"

"Thanks."

"You're stalling taking it off, aren't you?" Rory accused of her mother.

"Maybe I am."

"That's a sign, too."

"Funny how things that point in your favor are always signs."

"It is funny, isn't it."

"Well, we should get home before Luke does something crazy."

"Like what? He's not a very crazy guy." Rory questioned.

"I don't know, he could try and make us a vegetable loaf or something for dinner."

"You're right, that would be crazy."


	44. Chapter 44

The bells over the door of Luke's diner signaled an entrance just past three o'clock; the quietest part of the afternoon lull. Luke grabbed his pot of coffee and looked up, surprised at what he saw.

"Hey," said Christopher from the doorway.

"Hey." Luke responded.

"Can I sit?"

"Yeah. Coffee?"

"Coffee's good."

Christopher moved to a table and sat and Luke met him there with a mug and the coffee pot, pouring the mug with a level of trepidation.

"You got a minute?" Chris asked with that same level of trepidation.

"I can spare a minute." Luke answered coolly.

"Good."

Luke sat down across from Christopher and eyed him while Chris took a sip of his coffee. "So…"

"I'm feeling calmer today."

"That's good."

"I just have a few questions."

"Maybe we should wait for Lorelai." Luke tried to deflect.

"I'd rather do this man-to-man." Christopher said genuinely. Luke was hesitant, but didn't want to let this opportunity pass.

"Okay."

"I haven't been a great father." Christopher admitted hesitantly, looking at his mug of coffee.

"Understatement of the century," Luke snorted, not meeting his eyes.

"I haven't been a great father, but I haven't been the worst father. I don't deserve to have my kid taken out from under me." He defended himself.

"But what difference would it be if you did? You never call. You're never there for them. Half the time they don't even know how to get in contact with you if they'd want to." Luke said, starting to get angry but attempting to control himself.

"I know, I know. But I don't want this to be how it ends, you know? I want to watch her graduate, I want to see her off to her prom. I want to be there for the big things. I don't want her taken away from me." Christopher pleaded.

"Nobody has ever taken Rory away from you, ever. Lorelai told you that, the door's always been open. You've hardly used it. That's not on anybody but you." Luke said, growing frustrated.

"Lorelai also said that Rory was ready to close it. The door."

"And if I were Rory, I would close it. But Rory's a very forgiving kid. I don't see her shutting you out forever, for better or for worse. But I think that if you don't let us do this, she might close that door. She asked for this, she wanted this, and I want it too, I want to give it to her more than anything, but she initiated it. If you make it harder for her, she might close the door."

"I hate this, and I hate even more that there's nobody to blame for it but me. I did this, I chose anything else over her. She's a good kid."

"She's a great kid." Luke corrected.

"Just… have your lawyer send me the papers, okay?"

"Okay."

"I've got to get going, but uh, thanks."

"Yeah, you too."

The bells rang through the diner again and both men craned to see who caused the noise.

"Coffee, coffee, I need- dad." Rory said, surprised, not seeing her father until she was halfway to the counter.

"Hey kiddo."

"Uh, hi. Did we know you were coming?"

"Uh, just leaving actually."

"Huh." Rory said, making it clear that she wasn't surprised.

"Guess I deserve that." Chris said ashamedly.

"I get it. Duty calls."

"Yeah. I'll come by again soon. Maybe we can get dinner."

"Maybe."

"Bye kiddo, love you," Chris said, giving his daughter a quick kiss on the cheek before he made his hasty exit.

"So what was that about?"

"Oh, you know, nothing really."

"Yeah, because you know Christopher, he just pops in every once in awhile to shoot the breeze." She said angrily.

"Rory," Luke warned.

"Why won't you just answer my question?"

"I need to talk to your mom first."

"But you'll tell me eventually?"

"Yeah."

"Good. I wasn't joking about the coffee earlier." Rory said, changing the subject.

"When do you ever joke about coffee?"

"Exactly my point," she said as she took her normal seat at the counter.

"You weren't throwing him any softballs, there." he observed as he poured her coffee into a mug.

"Why should I?"

"I didn't say I wasn't proud."

"I think I was too mean." Rory said, changing her tone.

"You were mean enough." Luke consoled her.

"Can I have a slice of pie?"

"We're going to have dinner as soon as I get home."

"I'll show you pictures of Mom's dress," Rory said alluringly.

"Don't tempt me like that."

"It was mean, I know. That just tells you how much I really want this pie."

"If I give you a slice of pie you have to eat two vegetables."

"Two?" Rory said incredulously.

"Yeah, a salad and then whatever I make."

"Can I put caesar dressing on the salad?"

"Fine, but no croutons or cheese."

"You strike a hard bargain Mr. Danes. I'd like a slice of chocolate silk please."

"Your mother's daughter through and through." He said as he plated her pie.

"What's for dinner?" She asked.

"Chicken, brussel sprouts, rice." He said dryly as he located a fork and slid the plate to her.

"You're joking."

"About?"

"You really think you're going to get me and Mom to eat brussel sprouts?"

"Hey, your mom has been eating a lot more vegetables lately. You might try it sometime."

"I know, but brussel sprouts? You've got to be joking."

"Of course I'm joking, do you think I'm an idiot? I'm making carrots."

"I don't mind carrots."

"I know."

"It's okay, you know." Rory said, and her tone change made Luke think that she wasn't talking about dinner anymore.

"What is?" He asked, probing for more answers.

"If Dad's giving you a hard time, or if you're having second thoughts, and you don't want to, you know."

"Oh, God, Rory, no. No second thoughts on my end. Are you-"

"No."

"You let me worry about your dad, okay? If he gives us a hard time, I'll handle it. This is worth fighting for."

"Okay, good. Yeah, good. I'm just gonna go home and work on my homework."

"I'll be home in a couple of hours. It's cold out there, you want the truck?"

"By the time I drove the three blocks home the truck probably won't even be warm yet. I'll be fine. Thanks though."

"See you at home. Stay out of trouble."

"See you at home."


	45. Chapter 45

After Rory walked out of the diner, Luke took the quick walk upstairs to his apartment and dialed the number of the inn.

"Independence Inn, Lorelai speaking. How can I-"

"Hey, it's me." Luke cut her off nervously.

"Hey. What's wrong? You don't sound like you." Lorelai asked, concern evident in her tone.

"Uh, I just got done talking to Christopher." Luke admitted.

"Christopher? He called you?" Lorelai asked a bit more frantically.

"He came here." Luke clarified.

"He came to the diner?" Lorelai asked, horrified.

"Yeah." Luke answered calmly.

"Did you beat him up?"

"No, we just talked."

"You talked?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, monosyllabic man. Details please." Lorelai practically begged.

"He asked me to have our lawyer forward the papers to his lawyer. He said that he didn't want to lose all contact." Luke relayed to her.

"He asked for the papers? That's good, right?" Lorelai asked hopefully.

"Maybe. It doesn't mean he'll sign. But yeah, I think it's a step in the right direction. Uh, Rory came in while we were talking. I didn't tell her what we talked about. Wanted to talk to you first."

"Did she seem upset?"

"I gave her pie, so she should be fine now." He joked.

"I might go home and check on her. I'm sure that was hard for her, given all of this."

"Okay. I can try and get out of here soon to make dinner."

"Don't rush. We're okay." Lorelai assured her constantly worrying fiance.

"Okay, I'll see you soon."

Lorelai had told him not to rush, but how could he not, knowing that his girls were waiting for him at home? He made quick work of tying up all of the night's loose ends and left Caesar in charge for the evening, deciding to cook at home instead of bringing them burgers because it would get him home to them quicker. He hopped into his truck and although it was barely a three-minute drive home, it felt like hours. When he walked into the house, he saw Lorelai and Rory sitting on the couch watching television. He was surprised: neither of them seemed to be showing any sort of emotion about the afternoon's events.

"Everything okay in here?" he asked tentatively, wondering if breaking the silence would be akin to opening the floodgates of their emotionally charged afternoon.

"Yeah," Rory answered nonchalantly, as if nothing had happened at the diner at all.

"We're good." Lorelai added.

"You guys talked?" Luke asked, beginning to wonder if maybe he was crazy and had imagined the afternoon's events.

"Yup," Lorelai answered.

"I'm starting to understand why the monosyllabic thing bugs you so much." He said, begging for answers much as Lorelai had just about an hour earlier.

"We're good, Dad, really. It was weird to see him after all of this, but I'm okay. I know you're going to fight for me and I know that you were meant to be my dad. Christopher can say whatever he wants but I know this is all going to work out." Rory explained.

"How can you be so sure?" Luke asked.

"Well, you've never let me down before." Rory answered plainly, and Luke couldn't help but laugh.

"I hope to keep it that way," he told her, kissing the top of her head before he sat in between her and Lorelai. "So, any thoughts on dinner tonight?"

"Rory and I are having a cake tasting with Sookie around 6."

"Okay, so what do you want to eat for dinner? I took chicken out but-"

"Luke, do you know how much cake I'm going to have to eat tonight?"

"You can't eat cake for dinner, Lorelai. Besides, you only need to take one or two bites of each cake. It's a tasting, not a face-stuffing."

"Lorelai Gilmore does not start a piece of cake and not finish it."

"I'm not holding your hair back if you puke tonight."

"Rude! What happened to 'in sickness and in health,' Luke?"

"Haven't taken those vows yet."

"No, but is this not basically the trial period for those vows?"

"Please just tell me what you want for dinner."

"I don't know. Rory, any thoughts?"

"I'm not super hungry. Maybe just some soup? It's gross outside. It would be a good day for it."

"Soup it is." Luke said, standing up to go to the kitchen and start preparing the meal. Rory followed behind him, helping him pull ingredients out of the fridge and starting to cut up carrots and celery.

"Why'd you pick something with so many vegetables?" Lorelai said, her face turning up in playful disgust.

"You'll need them to balance out the fifteen different cakes you'll eat tonight." Rory answered.

"Not that it matters, since you're going to eat the chicken and the noodles out and leave the vegetables and the broth to me." Luke added on.

"You are so childish!" Rory admonished her mother playfully.

"Hey, just get to chopping, will you? We've got cakes to taste."

"And dresses to try on!" Rory added.

"Now you're just teasing me." Luke rolled his eyes.

"You're gonna die when you see her. She looks amazing in it."

"You'd better not die at the very least until the ceremony is over. You only marry your soulmate once and you dying before the vows will really put a damper on things."

"I will do my best not to die until the ceremony is over."

"And for a very very long time after that." Lorelai added, nodding her said to signal to him that she wanted him to repeat her statement.

"And for a very very long time after that." He added himself. "I'm sure you'll look amazing. You always do."

"Eww!" Rory teased playfully, sticking her tongue out at her mother before Luke pecked her on the lips. "You're gonna get cooties." Rory warned in a childish sing-song voice.

Before Luke could pull away, Lorelai pulled him into a longer, more passionate kiss, although one that was appropriate to share with their daughter in the room, as much as they both wanted the kiss to wander into more dangerous territory. "Totally worth the cooties," Lorelai said to no one in particular.

"Totally worth it," Luke agreed as he went back to cooking their dinner.


	46. Chapter 46

"May Sixteenth!" Lorelai called out as she burst into the busy diner. Luke finished pouring another customer's cup of coffee before he pulled her mug out from behind the counter and poured it for her.

"What happens on May Sixteenth?" Luke asked.

"The Dragonfly opens. Under new ownership." Lorelai beamed up at him. Her smile was contagious, and he'd caught it. He smiled back at her.

"I knew you could do it. I'm so proud of you, Lorelai. I know this was a big leap of faith."

"I couldn't have done it without you."

"Yes you could have." He said dismissively.

"No, Luke. I couldn't have. I needed you. I needed to know you'd be there even if I failed."

"You're not going to fail." He told her once again.

"No, I'm not. But it doesn't matter. Because even if the inn went up in flames on May 15th, I'd have you. You'd still be here."

"No plans to go anywhere. You got plans to burn the inn down?" He asked sarcastically.

"None as of yet. Definitely not until at least the 18th of May."

"Why not the 17th?"

"Because that's our wedding day." She announced.

"Oh, really?" He asked, intrigued and looking for more details.

"If that's okay with you. I thought it would be nice. I'd get to come to work every morning and relive one of the best days of my life. We could do it here if you wanted that, too, but I insist on decorations, and I figured based on your track record of decorating for town events that that would be a no-go for you." Lorelai ranted a bit nervously.

"Lorelai… I would marry you in a hurricane. I would marry you in this diner and let you dress it up to the nines with all the streamers and balloons that money can buy. I'd marry you in New York City."

"But you hate New York City!" She gasped playfully.

"I know. But I'd deal with that garbage smell if that's what you wanted. I just want to marry you. Just tell me where to be and I'll be there."

"The Dragonfly. That's where to be."

"Then I'll be there. You eating here?"

Lorelai checked her watch. "No, not this morning. I've got to get to work and finalize the menu with Sookie. Coffee to go?" He smiled graciously and filled a paper mug for her, leaning in to kiss her goodbye before handing over the coffee. "See you later, doll."

"Bye hon." He said, and like a flash, she was gone. He watched her from the window for a few moments and then went back to his work, filling coffee cups and taking orders. It was a busy day at diner, and it wasn't till the post-lunch rush, around 2:30, that Luke realized that he hadn't seen or even heard from Lorelai since their brief chat in the diner that morning. He walked over to the phone and dialed Lorelai's work number.

"Independence Inn, this is Lorelai. How can I help you?"

"Wow, you sound pretty." Luke teased.

"You don't sound ugly, either." She teased, recognizing his voice.

"I was just calling to check on you. You didn't come in for lunch. Have you eaten?"

"Oh wow. It's already three, huh? Sorry, doll. Time just flew away from me. Tell Rory when you see her not to wait at the diner for me. It's been a busy day here, I'm not sure I'll be able to sneak out."

"You working late?" He asked, starting to grow concerned that she'd wear herself too thin.

"Hopefully I won't be, considering I accidentally worked through lunch. I should be home by six."

"Okay. I hope things calm down for you a little bit. Take a break if you can. You should really eat something."

"Okay, dad." She teased.

"I recall someone telling me that they liked Daddy-Luke."

"Oh my god. Please don't ever refer to yourself as Daddy-Luke again."

"But you did it!"

"Now Luke, that's just childish."

"I can never win with you, huh?"

"Just promise me."

"I promise."

"See you tonight, sweetheart."

"See you tonight."

Lorelai opened the door to her house at 9:30 that night to find Luke standing in the doorway, keys in hand.

"Oh, hey. Where are you going?" Lorelai asked.

"I was going out to find you."

"Well you did a pretty good job."

"You were starting to scare me. You weren't answering your phone."

"Sorry. It was off."

"It's okay." Luke sighed, resigning himself. "Come in, you must be exhausted."

"Exhausted doesn't even begin to cover it. Can we go to bed?"

"Sure."

"Just let me say goodnight to Rory," She said, knocking lightly on her daughter's door to ask for permission to enter. When it was granted, she swung the door open. "Hey kiddo. We just wanted to say goodnight."

"Cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon," Rory sang teasingly at her mother.

"Don't do that to your poor overworked Mommy!" Lorelai whined, and Rory just laughed.

"Night mom. I hope tomorrow's better. Love you."

"Love you more."

"Goodnight, kid." Luke said as Lorelai headed up the stairs.

"Night Dad."

Luke shut the door and followed his fiance up the stairs. When he swung open the door to the bedroom they shared, he found Lorelai already wrapped up in one of his shirts with the covers pulled over her.

"Long day?" He asked.

"You could say that. Long rehearsal dinner, lots of wedding prep. Why did I think we could manage three weddings in one weekend? Clearly I hate myself and my staff."

"Clearly."

"They're probably all going to quit after this weekend." She pouted, and he climbed into bed to console her, pulling her up against him and letting his arm fall over her waist.

"No, they aren't. They'll all survive and so will you."

"Thank you," Lorelai said and her stomach growled.

"Did you eat dinner?" Luke asked her, picking his head up a little.

"Too tired to eat," she mumbled. "I'll eat in the morning."

"Hey wait… did you ever even eat lunch? Or breakfast? You only had a coffee when I saw you this morning."

"Well I had a lot more coffee."

"You feel different."

"What do you mean?"

"Lying against me like this… you feel different. I can feel more of your bones. Have you lost weight?"

"Did I feel fat before?"

"God, Lorelai, no. Of course not. It's a miracle of God that you aren't fat, but of course not. Did you lose weight?"

"Not a lot."

"How much is not a lot?"

"Twelve pounds."

"Lorelai, when you barely weigh 140 as it is, twelve pounds is a lot."

"Okay, so I've lost a lot of weight. What does it matter? Aren't you happy for me?"

"Not if this is how you're doing it… Lorelai, look at me." She rolled over to comply with his request. "Don't you know how stunning you are? Why are you trying to lose weight? You are the most beautiful woman I have ever, will ever lay my eyes on. Sometimes I can't look straight at you because you're just so radiant. What's going on in that head of yours?"

"Plenty of women go on diets before their weddings." Lorelai said defensively.

"Not starvation diets I hope?"

"Luke, I'm not on a starvation diet. I've been watching what I eat more regularly, which is why I lost the twelve pounds. Today was just a busy day and I didn't make time to eat. Trust me, the queen of junk food binges isn't about to lose her crown. What made you jump to that conclusion?" She asked him.

"When Liz was Rory's age she was bulimic."

Lorelai felt her heart drop into her stomach. "Oh, Luke. You don't have to-"

"No, it's okay. She, uh. She never really got over Mom, you know? And I think the food was just something she could control, but it became much bigger than that. She was obsessed. She'd go to the newsstands and buy all those magazines that Rory reads now and she'd cut out pictures of those teeny models and hang them on her mirror. She'd come home from school and eat and eat and eat, and then when she thought we'd gone to bed she'd get up and throw it all up. It was awful. She'd get up in the morning with a puffy face and scars all over her hands. It's really scary, because in some ways, it was Liz, you know? It was my sister. But in other ways, it was like she was someone else, or she was somewhere else. It wasn't long after that that she got pregnant, and it all sort of went downhill from there."

"God, Luke."

"It just kind of sticks with you, something like that. I see a lot of it in you and Rory. I was a little afraid you were confirming one of my worst nightmares."

"What do you mean?"

"You both crave that control. Rory especially. Every pleat in her skirt is pressed, there's never a run in her tights. Every grade is an A. Not an A-, an A. Every outline is color-coded. She has specific pencils for each class. God forbid her shoes get scuffed. Rory's so smart. To watch something like that happen to her would kill me. It's so competitive at her school. I know she handles it well, but it just scares me… Scares me to think there are things out there that I can't protect the two of you from."

"Luke… when are you going to let some of that go? You can't live your life like that. You'll be the one developing an eating disorder. You'll make yourself crazy, Luke."

"I know, but it's my job, Lorelai. It's my job to keep you two safe."

"Yeah, and it's my job to call my fiance when I'm going to be four hours late getting home but everybody makes mistakes, Luke. We can't all do our jobs perfectly all the time."

"This is different."

"Luke. If, God forbid, Rory developed an eating disorder, what would you do?"

"We'd get her back into therapy. I'd make all her meals. Healthy stuff, but stuff that's going to keep her nourished. We'd put her in treatment if that's what she needed. It'd break my heart for sure but we'd do whatever we needed to do."

"See, Luke? You can't keep us safe from everything, but you're going to be there for the things you can't save us from. That's how I know we'll be okay. Because you'll be there."

"No plans to go anywhere." Luke echoed his statements from that morning.

"Except to sleep," Lorelai yawned.

"Except there," Luke agreed, putting his arm around her again as they settled into each other for the night.


	47. Chapter 47

"Rory, I spy a big envelope!" Lorelai called into her house as she walked in one evening after work. She dropped her purse onto the couch and walked into the kitchen where Luke and Rory were cooking dinner.

"Wishful thinking, Mom. I'm still a Sophomore, all I've sent to schools are my SAT scores. I don't think you can get accepted without sending in an application.

Lorelai flipped through the rest of the mail, sorting it into piles until she finally revealed the big envelope that laid at the bottom of the pile.

"Oh, Luke. It's from the lawyer."

"Like, the Christopher lawyer?" Rory asked.

"Yeah." Luke answered, peering at the still unopened envelope.

"Okay, well, I'm going to head out for a little while-"

"You don't have to go, Rory." Luke interjected.

"No, I do, because if you open that up and it's not what I want it to be I'm going to be crushed, so I'm just going to head to the library-" She said, making her way out the door. Luke followed her quickly, shooting Lorelai a look to let her know that he could handle this. He caught up with Rory on the porch.

"Rory." Luke pleaded, and she stopped in her tracks, turning back to look at him with her blue eyes full of fear and blooming disappointment. "Hey, come sit with me for a second." Luke said, his voice growing softer as he sat on the porch swing, waiting for him to join her. She sat down with a sigh and he put a comforting arm around her. "Just you and me out here." He started. "And it's just you and me that matter right now, okay? Doesn't matter what's in here. You know that I'm always going to be here if you need me, and that I'm so incredibly lucky and proud that you want to call me your dad. And I know that for some crazy reason you picked the town grump to be your dad. And no matter what's in here, we're going to have that. Right?" Luke asked, looking into Rory's eyes.

"Right." Rory answered softly.

"You want me to do it, or can you do it?" He asked, extending the envelope towards her.

"I can do it," Rory responded, taking the envelope and turning it over in her hands before she tentatively dug a fingernail into the seal, tearing it slowly and gently, as if the sound of the paper tearing was overwhelming to her. She turned the envelope over and out poured a large, stapled packet of various legal documents. Rory oriented the packet the right way and saw that the first page was the same one that she'd presented Luke on Christmas morning a few months prior. She'd all but given up on Christopher ever returning the papers, and now that they were here she wasn't sure if she wanted to look at them. "Even… even if he didn't sign these… We're going to fight, right? This isn't it?"

"Of course not, Rory. We'll fight if we need to. Go ahead and look. I'm right here." He said, squeezing her shoulder to emphasize his point.

She skimmed through the dense legal text, not daring to let her eyes reach the bottom of the page. Not just yet. She took a deep breath and darted her eyes quickly, as if she barely trusted herself to look. That brief glimpse was all it took to see the messy scrawl she barely recognized. It had been scribbled on various postcards and a few birthday letters throughout the years, but none of that mattered now. Because it was exactly where it needed to be, at the bottom of this page, a notary's stamp sitting next to it in bold ink. She bit her lip as a few tears sprung to her eyes.

"Okay, you've got to tell me if those are good or bad," he said, leaning forward to pull a stray tear off of her face with the pad of his thumb. "I'm dying of anticipation over here."

"They're good." Rory breathed out. "They're really, really good."

She passed him the papers, and unlike Rory, he had no hesitation. His eyes immediately flicked to the bottom of the page and his eyes widened, shocked that for once Christopher had managed to do the right thing. His shocked eyes were replaced with a wide grin, and he leaned over once more to kiss the top of Rory's head.

"And you were going to go to the library," He teased her.

"I guess this was worth sticking around for," she bantered back."Can you sign them now?" Rory asked eagerly, and Luke chuckled a little.

"We need a notary." He explained. "Plus we should probably tell your mom first. We can go to the bank tomorrow."

"I'm sure Mom already knows," Rory said simply.

"I don't think she and Christopher talked about this," Luke replied, confused.

"Oh, definitely not." Rory agreed. "But I am certain that she has had her ear pressed against the door for the entirety of this conversation," she explained, giving Luke the necessary information to piece it all together. "You can come out now, Mom!" She called.

"Guilty as charged," Lorelai said as she stepped onto the porch, though her beaming smile made her look anything but guilty. She plopped down on the couch next to her daughter, pulling her into a hug. They pulled apart after a long moment, the tears flowing freely down both of their faces now. "I have never wanted you to hate Christopher… you know that. But a lot of the time, I hated Christopher for you… you deserved better, you always have. And now you have it, baby. I'm just so happy," she said softly.

"I always had better. I had you. It's just… doubly better now. Having someone who cares when they didn't have to instead of somebody who never cared when they were supposed to."

"Takes someone really special to do that." Lorelai agreed.


	48. Chapter 48

The next morning, Rory was up bright and early to accompany Luke and Lorelai to their lawyers office to watch them sign her adoption papers. So early, in fact, that the lawyer's offices hadn't even opened yet.

"Why can't we go to the bank? The bank is open now." Rory whined as her parents got ready for the day.

"Because we need the lawyer to sign them too, and there will be a notary at the lawyer's office. Going to the bank would be more work." Luke explained for the third time.

"Would you still have signed the papers if you knew I could be this impatient and whiny?" Rory teased.

"I still proposed to your mother, right?" He shot back, smirking.

"Hey!" Lorelai called from another room. "I heard that."

"Stop eavesdropping and finish getting ready so we can go!" Rory called back.

"So bossy," Her mother teased.

Rory looked back to Luke. "Last chance to back out," she warned.

"Not backing out. Not now, not ever."

"Good." Rory smiled.

"Go ahead downstairs, there's coffee in the pot."

"Thanks," Rory said as she bounded down the stairs.

After pulling a comb through his hair, Luke retreated into their bedroom to check on Lorelai. He found her applying some powder to her face with a brush, tears pooling and threatening to spill from her eyes.

"Hey, what's the matter?"

"What?" Lorelai said, jumping a little. "No, I'm fine, honestly. It's nothing." She said, batting at the tears that had escaped, trying to prevent them from ruining the work she had done on her face.

"Lorelai, talk to me… do you not want this? I don't understand it, but you know I won't do anything you don't want."

"No Luke, that's not it at all. I'm just so… I never thought I'd get it, you know? The whole package. A man who loves me and my daughter… accepts her, doesn't just like her because they like me… you love her for her. Your relationship with her is completely separate from mine… and I love that. I never thought I'd get this. I'm just really happy."

"Good. Happy tears are the only ones I want to see."

"Okay, if I'm sad I'll be sure to hide it from you," Lorelai teased, and he glared at her.

"You're impossible."

"And yet you still proposed."

"Clearly I need help."

"Eh, don't we all." Lorelai said as she swung her door open. "You ready?"

"Let's go," Luke smiled as they walked out of her bedroom.

* * *

After they had signed the papers, Lorelai suggested going out to lunch to celebrate, but Rory had asked if they could eat at home, confessing her excitement had kept her from sleeping much the night before. Lorelai had teased her mercilessly but they obliged her request and Luke made them sandwiches at the house.

"So can we talk wedding planning if dad's still in the house?" Rory asked.

"I thought you were tired," Lorelai responded.

"I am tired, but I don't want to take a nap and end up awake all night. So I need a stimulating conversation to keep me awake."

"A stimulating conversation about which flowers will match your dress best?"

"That'll do." Rory smiled.

"That sounds like my cue to go to work." Luke said, leaning over to kiss Lorelai and Rory both on the head. "I'll be home to cook for dinner."

They all said their goodbyes and once Luke had left, Lorelai pulled her wedding binder out. It was thick with magazine cut-outs, pictures, to-do lists, receipts, and invitation response cards.

"Okay, so this is what I'm thinking for your dress… you can say no if you don't like it." Lorelai said, extending a picture towards her daughter of a pale purple dress that would hit just above the knee.

"I love it mom. It's really cute. I could probably even keep it and wear it to a school dance or something."

"I'm so glad you like it. We can go next weekend and try it on."

"It's all coming together, huh?"

"Yeah, sweetie, it is." Lorelai smiled as she slid the picture back into it's slot in the binder. "Only a couple more months."

"It's been a crazy year, huh?"

"That's the understatement of the century." Lorelai snorted.

"I guess so."

"What's on your mind?" Lorelai tried to tread lightly, sensing a change in her daughter's mood.

"I want to talk to Dean."

"No." Lorelai said resolutely.

"Mom, hear me out. We've never had the kind of relationship where you didn't at least consider my opinion."

"Okay, I'll listen. But I can't guarantee I'll change my mind."

"I just… I need to see him and tell him I forgive him. Because I was really angry for a long time, longer than I think I even realized. And I just need a little bit of closure, you know? One conversation where he's calm, and I can tell him that we can leave it behind us."

"Rory… I love you, and I respect your opinion. I see where you're coming from, I really do, but I don't feel good about this. Put yourself in my shoes for a second. Would you want to let your kid go back to the guy who hit her? For months?"

"I'm not going back to him, Mom. It's one conversation. That's it, I swear."

"I don't know, Rory. I'm going to have to talk to Luke about this."

"Don't do that! You know he'll say no."

"Rory, you can't honestly think I'd keep this from Luke would you?"

"Well…"

"Sweetheart, Luke is my fiance, and as of this morning, he's your father. I can't keep things from him. If you're having boy problems or you want to go on the pill, or you're pissed at Paris for some reason, sure, that can stay between us, but this is about your safety Rory. I can't keep that from him. No secrets."

"No secrets," Rory agreed begrudgingly. "Just… really think about it, okay? And try and get Luke to think about it too. Don't just snap to a reaction."

"I'll do my best, kiddo."


	49. Chapter 49

"No, no, no. Absolutely not. Are you insane, Lorelai? Is she insane? No! That's not even an option. Definitely not. It's not happening. Absolutely not." Luke ranted, pacing back and forth as Lorelai sat on the edge of their bed that night after Lorelai had explained to him their daughter's request to see Dean.

"Luke!" Lorelai cut him off. "You promised me you'd hear me out." She reminded him.

"Yeah, well, that was before I knew you'd gone insane." Luke grumbled, running a hand through his hair.

"Luke." Lorelai said, trying to tell him that he was being unreasonable. "This is what Rory wants. It's what she needs." She explained, her tone begging him to listen. "She needs some closure. He was her first boyfriend, he was this amazing guy, he built her a car, and then all of a sudden he wasn't anymore, and she probably has some sort of emotional whiplash from that. How can you blame her for it? I just want to give her everything she needs to heal."

"We both want her to heal." Luke reminded her, his tone a little sharper than he'd intended.

"Luke, please, just listen to me. Really listen to me."

"No, Lorelai, no. You're not hair-flipping, bright-smiling your way out of this one. I just don't feel good about this."

"I know, baby. I know. I'd be more upset if you did feel good about this, if you said yes without giving it a moment of thought."

"This is insane," Luke muttered as he bowed his head, pinching the bridge of his nose and squinting his eyes shut to try and get rid of the headache that was currently piercing through him.

"Luke," Lorelai said, sympathizing with all the thoughts she was sure were rushing through his head. "Sit," she asked of him, leading him to the edge of their bed by placing her hands on his shoulders.

He obliged her request, sitting on the edge of the bed and looking down at his shoes, his head hanging as he draped his arms over his thighs while Lorelai rubbed his back. He sat up after a moment, still looking at the ground but putting a hand on her thigh.

"I just can't let her get hurt again," he managed to whisper out hoarsely. "She's my daughter, and you're about to be my wife, and it's my job to take care of you, both of you, and I just can't let her do that, I can't do it. This past year… it's been crazy. I wouldn't change a second of it, not for the world… but I saw both of you get hurt, really hurt, and it was awful, Lorelai. It was so awful. I can't reconcile that inside myself, I can't say yes to that in good faith. I can't feel good about it. I don't know what you want me to do, Lorelai. Of course I want her to heal, and move on, and recover, but can't she do that without meeting up with this punk?"

"Oh, Luke," Lorelai said, his emotions triggering hers as tears came to both of their eyes. She crawled into his lap, needing to be closer to him. "Luke, it's okay. I'm scared too. Of course I'm scared. She's stronger than us, I guess. But it's okay to be scared. That's the biggest part of parenting, I think. So buckle up. Because it's scary. Because we love her, and we don't want her to get hurt, so we're gonna be scared sometimes, and that's okay." Lorelai rambled.

"She's a good kid."

"The best."

"I want her to heal, I swear-"

"Shh. Luke, I know that you do. Of course you do. We both do."

"I hate him." Luke growled. "I hate him for doing this to her. Not that anybody ever deserves this, but Rory…"

"She's your little girl." Lorelai finished his sentence.

"She's _your_ little girl." He corrected her. "Our little girl, now."

"Yeah, but she's had you wrapped around her finger as much as me since the moment you walked into the diner and you know it. You really think it's only the past year that made her want you as her dad?" Lorelai asked incredulously.

"All of that stuff that I did for her before we started dating… you know that it was never about you, right?" Luke cringed at his unfortunate wording. "Well, that came out wrong, but, uh… you know I always loved her for her, right? I didn't ever do anything for her to get closer to you, and I just… want you to know that. That I've always cared about her like that." Luke rambled.

"I do know that." Lorelai answered simply, smiling.

"Good."

"Good." Lorelai agreed.

"Do you think we could just… go to bed? This is a lot. I will think about it, I promise. But right now I just want to fall asleep next to the woman I love."

"I think that can be arranged." Lorelai said, leaning over to kiss him slowly.

"You are an amazing woman," he breathed out to her, not yet opening his eyes, wanting the moment to last forever, or at least as long as it could.

"Thank you for noticing." She smirked, kissing him again before she quickly got out of bed to change into pajamas. He followed her, and a few minutes later they both had changed and climbed back into bed. They settled into one another for the night and were about to fall asleep when Luke murmured something into Lorelai's shoulder, something she couldn't quite make out.

"What, baby?" She asked tiredly, picking up her head a little.

"They could meet in the diner… I could watch them. Safer that way."

"Sounds good honey," Lorelai smiled, glad to see her Mr.-Fix-It back in action. "let's talk about it in the morning. I love you."

"Love you too."

"Thank you for taking care of my baby."

"Our daughter." He corrected.

"Our daughter," Lorelai smiled.


	50. Chapter 50

The bells above the diner door clanged loudly through the diner, signalling an entrance, and Luke's head snapped in their direction. Still no Rory. Dean was sitting at a table nursing a cup of coffee as he waited for her. Luke had to busy himself with other customers and inventory while he waited. He couldn't bare to do nothing. If he didn't busy himself, he'd surely say or do something to Dean that he'd end up regretting. He was going to keep calm, not for him, or for Dean, but for Rory. Rory wanted and deserved this closure, and as much as Luke wanted to knock Dean's lights out, he wanted Rory to heal more.

The bells clanged again, and this time it was Rory, her big, nervous, blue doe eyes betraying her attempts to remain calm even from across the room where Luke was standing. He gave her a slow nod. Rory was scared, but she didn't want an out. He could tell. She was headstrong, and she was going to do this.

He nodded to let her know that he was here, and that was all she needed. She was safe here. The diner had always been a safe place. Luke had always made sure of that, and he wouldn't let her down now. She walked over to Dean, and he stood up and pulled out her chair for her before sitting down again in his own. Luke scowled, retreating into the kitchen, needing the wall as a physical barrier to help him control himself. From the grill, he could keep an eye on Rory while still maintaining a safe distance. He flipped a few burgers, grilled a few chicken breasts, made a few sandwiches. The seconds seemed to pass tortuously slowly. Six burgers, four salads, and three sandwiches later, he saw Dean calmly walk out the front door. Rory was still sitting at the table. Luke calmly made his way out, starting to clear the plates from the table.

"You okay?" He said, looking up at her as he continued to clear the plates and silverware.

"Yeah, I'm, uh. I'm good. Can I go upstairs for a little bit?"

"Door's unlocked," He told her, nodding his head towards the staircase. She trotted up the staircase and he cleared plates from a few other tables, wanting to give her a few minutes before he went upstairs, swinging open the door to his apartment tentatively. He didn't hear any crying, so that was a good start, at least.

"Rory?" He called out gingerly.

"Yeah, I'm right here," Rory called from the couch.

"You okay, kid?" Luke called as he made his way further into the apartment.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I swear. I just wanted to take a minute. It was a lot."

'He didn't try and-"

"He was a perfect gentleman," Rory said with a bitter laugh.

"Kiddo, talk to me." Luke pleaded.

"It really was fine, dad. He went to therapy. Worked through a lot of the anger he had because he didn't want to leave Chicago. He said he was sorry. I believe him. He seemed sorry. He always said sorry before, but I knew. I knew he wasn't. I knew it would happen again." She admitted softly.

"Rory…" Luke breathed out, not daring to move.

"He wanted to know if we could still be friends." Rory said, and Luke's breath caught in his throat. "But I told him no," Rory added, and Luke was able to breathe again. "I just couldn't… I believe that he's different now, better now, and I believe that he could be okay if we were together, but I can't do it. I was so nervous when we were together, and maybe I shouldn't feel that way, but I do, and I can't hang out with him and laugh with him and be like him like I used to if I still feel like that. I feel badly for it, but-"

"Don't. Don't feel badly."

"But he's changed. He's trying. Shouldn't I be able to change? Shouldn't I be able to give him a chance?" Rory asked her father. "If he can change, why can't I?"

Luke took a deep breath before he sat on the couch next to her, taking her small hand in his own and squeezing it before he spoke up again.

"No, Rory. No, you shouldn't. You shouldn't change. You shouldn't give him another chance. Because he hurt you. You never hurt him, so of course he can be around you, but he put his hands on you. He hit you," Luke said, barely able to choke the words out. He took a deep breath and started again when Rory squeezed his hand back. "You don't owe him anything. Even coming here today was huge and undeserved. Your mother and I supported you because you felt like you needed this closure, but that's what it was supposed to be, was closure." Luke explained. "Even if you were comfortable with it, I think it would just about kill your mother and I to think you were spending time with him after all that's happened." Luke told her.

"You're right… I don't want to give him a second chance. He doesn't deserve it. The good didn't outweigh the bad. I'm not the one who needs to change for him. I wanted closure, and I got it. The Dean chapter of my life is over, long over. It's better that way. I don't regret it, because it brought you and Mom together, but there's no sense in repeating it." Rory said decisively.

Luke stood up, pulling her small figure to her feet as he went, and pulled her in for a hug.

"Are you okay?" Rory asked. "This was hard for me, but I know it was hard for you too. I saw you grinding your teeth behind the counter," she teased.

"I'm okay. I'm just… really glad you're safe. Relieved that I think we're seeing the last of Dean. Really proud of you." He whispered as his hand stroked the back of her head comfortingly.

Rory sighed contently and leaned further into her father's embrace. They stood for a moment quiety before Rory spoke up again.

"Uh, this is really nice and all, but you're squeezing all of the air out of me and I happen to really enjoy breathing."

"Oh, sorry," Luke said, releasing her and crouching to be at eye-level with her. "I'm real proud of you, kid."

"You mentioned that." She teased.

"I know I did, but it's still true. Let's get going, okay? We'll have dinner waiting for your mom when she gets home."

"Sounds good. Caesar doesn't need you downstairs?"

"I can take off a little early to cook dinner with my favorite girl."

"Ooh, I'm telling mom you said that! Beat you to the truck!" Rory said, rushing out the door before Luke had even processed her sentence.


	51. Chapter 51

"It's all set," Lorelai muttered the Saturday morning one week before her wedding over her morning coffee.

"What's all set?" Luke asked as he sat across from her at the kitchen table.

"All of it. The flowers, the dresses, the tuxes, the table settings. It's all set."

"Why are you saying that like it's a bad thing?" Luke asked, growing confused as Lorelai flipped through her wedding binder at a manic pace.

"Because how can it be all set? We still have a week before we're getting married. I have to be forgetting something."

"Or, maybe, your years of planning weddings for other people made it easier to plan your own wedding, and you're ready ahead of schedule. Did you consider that?"

"Uh, well, no. Not really."

"Do you want to know the problem here?" Luke asked her as she took another sip of coffee.

"Actually, no. I don't like problems. I avoid them when I can, and I don't like people pointing them out to me."

"Lorelai." Luke warned.

"Sure, big, strong, intelligent man. Tell me what's wrong with me." Lorelai said sarcastically.

"You need to relax," He told her. "You've been holed up doing work stuff or wedding stuff for weeks. I feel like I'm losing you to a mistress, but the mistress is our wedding."

"I promise you will never lose me to a literal mistress."

"Good, can you write that in the vows?"

"Sure, as long as you swear to never look at another woman anywhere other than the face for the rest of your life."

"You already know that I don't." Luke said, giving her a look just to make sure that she knew. "No need to look around when I managed to sneak a ring on the finger of the world's most beautiful woman."

"I like you, Mister." Lorelai teased as she crawled into his lap, pressing a kiss to his lips.

"Not that it matters, because I fell in love with your eyes before anything else."

"They're the same as yours, that's a little egotistical, don't you think?"

"No, they aren't. They're both blue, but yours are much more expressive. It's how I know when you tell me you're fine but you're really not. You're a pretty good liar, but your eyes give you away. They're brighter when you're excited."

"What kind of excited?" Lorelai whispered in his ear.

"Not that kind. They're darker then. When you're dorky-excited."

"Excuse you, I'm not dorky!" Lorelai said indignantly.

"Yes, you absolutely are."

"Name an instance when I was dorky."

"Uh, the painting song you sang to me when you were trying to convince me to paint the diner?"

"Which totally worked!"

"And was totally dorky."

"Well, you proposed, so you can't hate it that much."

"I don't hate. I love it. I love that you get dorky-excited about town meetings and festivals and filling the salt and pepper shakers at the diner. It makes me happy to see you that happy."

"Can I tell you something that makes me really, really happy?" Lorelai whispered.

"You can tell me anything," he reminded her.

"I get to marry you next week."

"That makes me really, really happy too."

"Almost as happy as you are to go out with the guys tonight?"

"Marrying you makes me much happier than going to my bachelor party tonight. You know I'd be perfectly happy to stay home with Rory while you went out with the girls."

"Rory will be with Lane and you are going out. You're going to have a good time. Go look at almost-naked other women who aren't me for the last time."

"For the last time, we're not going to a strip club."

"Luke, I mean it when I say that this is your last chance. If you stagger home drunk from the strip club some night when we're married I'm throwing you out."

"Lorelai, when have I ever been to a strip club or come home to you drunk? I would never, especially not when Rory's in the house."

"I know you wouldn't, I just live off of the drama so sometimes I have to create it myself."

"You're a lot of work."

"Yes, I'm a full-time job, and I'm all yours."

"All mine."

Later that night, Lorelai was in the bathroom getting for the night of barhopping ahead of her while Luke sat on the bed watching a baseball game. She picked up a can and sprayed it towards her scalp. Luke almost immediately started coughing.

"Sorry, baby," Lorelai apologized as she opened a window.

"That stuff smells disgusting," he complained about the hairspray.

"I know," She agreed.

"Why are you using all that crap anyway?" Luke asked, and Lorelai gave a fake horrified gasp, coming out of the bathroom to continue their conversation.

"This stuff is not crap. This stuff is how I get pretty for you every morning. The Lorelai you know is a carefully manicured illusion." Lorelai tried to explain to him.

"Lorelai, I see you without all that crap on your face every night before we go to bed and every morning before we get up."

"Yeah, but that's not the me you fell in love with."

"Yes it is."

"Luke." Lorelai started to protest.

"I'm attracted to illusion-Lorelai, sure… but I fell in love with Lorelai." He said, reaching for her hand to pull her into his lap. "I fell in love with your dark hair spread across the white pillowcase, I fell in love with the freckles you work so hard to cover up, I fell in love with those big, bright, blue eyes that don't need any of the pencils or powders in that bag to attract attention to them. That's the Lorelai I fell in love with."

"You are so getting lucky when I get home tonight." Lorelai smiled at him before giving him a long, slow, kiss.

"Any chance of getting lucky now?"

"Sorry baby. I've got to finish getting ready."

* * *

Three bars into her crawl with Sookie, Babette, Ms. Patty, and Gypsy, Lorelai flipped her phone open to check the time. 11:18. By now she and Luke normally would have showered and brushed their teeth. Lorelai would probably be flipping through the channels aimlessly, knowing nothing would be on but not willing to admit yet that she was ready for bed. Lorelai looked into the fourth bar and told the girls to go ahead in, she was just going to give Luke a quick call. The phone only rang twice before he picked up.

"Hey. You okay? I wasn't expecting to hear from you tonight."

"My hair is crunchy."

"Your hair is what?"

"My hair is crunchy, and I haven't looked in a mirror recently but I'm sure my eyeshadow is all over my face by now, and bars are really gross on Saturdays. Did you know that? It's been at least 10 years since I went to a bar, and they're much more crowded and loud than I remember. My shoes are covered in spilled beer and the smell is probably never going to come out. My outfit is cute as hell but it's cold outside, but I couldn't wear a jacket because people get way too close to you in these bars and then you're sharing body heat and it's way too hot. Anyway, I'm not that drunk, but I'm drunk enough to know that I should be having a good time, because everybody else is having a good time, but I really just want to come home and go to bed with you. Am I lame and old for that? Actually, I don't care if that makes me lame and old. I'm coming home."

"Wait, Lorelai, wait. Don't go anywhere yet. Did you drive there?"

"No, we took a taxi. I'll just take a taxi."

"I don't want you getting into a taxi right now. I'll come get you."

"Okay, I'll be waiting outside."

"Where's everyone else?"

"They went in. I didn't want to call you in there, it's too loud."

"Go inside. It's late and dark. I don't want you on the street alone."

"It's so gross in there! I'll bum a cigarette off of somebody out here, if people see me smoking they'll know not to mess with me."

"Lorelai, so help me God, if you light a cigarette it will literally break me. Just go inside and stay with the other girls please. I'm getting into the car, I'll be there soon."

True to his word, Luke showed up twenty minutes later, walking through the bar doors with his eyes immediately searching for Lorelai, wanting to be in and out as quickly as possible. He spotted Sookie first, and that led him to his fiance.

"Luke! You came!" Lorelai said excitedly.

"Of course I came."

"Okay, bye ladies." Lorelai said, stumbling to each of the women in her party and giving them a hug before practically falling into Luke. He managed to get her out of the loud, crowded bar, and then he spoke up again.

"You weren't this drunk when I called," Luke said, not an accusation, but a question.

"The bartender saw our outfits and gave us free shots." She said, and Luke looked her over. She was wearing a short, white lace dress with long sleeves and a pair of cowboy boots she had snagged from the piles of junk from the rummage sale. Over the dress, she wore a white sash with blue lettering that read "Bride to be,"and a plastic tiara sat atop her curls. "I haven't done tequila shots since before Rory was conceived. I forgot how strong they were."

"Let's get you home and get some food in you," Luke said, opening the door of the truck and helping her in.

"Luke, did you mean what you said before, about smoking?" Lorelai asked gently, and he gave her a look of genuine concern.

"Why?" He asked. She didn't smoke, did she? She had perfect teeth, he could never smell it on her clothes, he'd never seen a pack of cigarettes in the house.

"I used to. Before I got pregnant with Rory. I gave it up when I found out about her. I just thought you should know before we got married, since you seem to feel so strongly about it." She said somberly.

"Lorelai, you can't possibly think that I wouldn't want to marry you because you used to smoke sixteen years ago."

"I don't know, Luke. My brain is all messed up right now. Who decided it was a good idea to liquor-up brides a week before their wedding? I have a bone to pick with that guy."

"Lorelai, look at me."

Lorelai glanced over at him, and he did his best to split his attention between her and the road in front of them.

"I am never leaving, okay? I will never leave. I will never think about leaving. If our marriage runs into problems, I will do whatever it takes to fix what's wrong. Okay? Tell me that you know that. It's important to me that you know that."

"I know. I do." She said.

"Good. Come on, we're home. Let's get you to bed." Luke came around to open the door for her, and she stepped out of the truck, immediately attaching her lips to his neck.

"Lorelai," Luke said, shocked but not wanting her to stop.

"I did promise you you'd get lucky tonight." Lorelai whispered as she lifted her foot up to shut the car door behind her, then spinning the two of them around and pressing him against the truck.

"Lorelai," Luke murmured as he moved a hand to her waist and another through her hair. "Oh, it is crunchy. I get it now," he remarked as she moved her lips up his jaw.

"Too much hairspray," She explained. She found a pulse point on his neck and he couldn't take it anymore. He flipped the two of them around so her back was pressed against the door.

"Luke Danes, are you taking advantage of a poor, intoxicated girl like me?" She whispered to him, curling one hand around the hair on the back of his head as her other hand settled against his chest.

"I'm certainly trying to," He whispered, stooping to kiss her neck and then lifting her off the ground, carrying her up the porch steps, only putting her down to get the front door open. They stepped through the door still connected, and managed to close it behind them without separating.

"Oh, Mr. Danes," Lorelai breathed out as she felt his lips on the juncture between her neck and her shoulder. "You are entirely overdressed." She remarked, pushing him into a seated position on the kitchen table to work on the buttons of his flannel. He pulled her closer and allowed his hands to rest on her rear, squeezing to encourage her to continue as she made tantalizingly slow work of each individual button. As soon as she was finished, Luke pushed the flannel off of his shoulders and pulled the white undershirt over his head.

"Someone's impatient."

"You make me crazy," he growled, pushing the hem of her dress up and rubbing his thumbs over her thighs.

"I've been thinking about you all night." she whispered as she climbed into his lap. "Thinking about your big, strong, hands on me." She whispered to him, pulling his earlobe in between her teeth and then kissing down his neck, her hands trailing down his chest.

"Lorelai," Luke murmured as his hands splayed over her back, searching for a zipper which he eventually found. He teased her with the pull as much as she had teased him with the buttons, and Lorelai was beginning to understand the phrase "Karma's a bitch" in a whole new way. Eventually she pulled her arms out of the sleeves and shoved the dress down her body, allowing the lace to pool in Luke's lap. She ran her thumb over his tattoo and kissed it appreciatively. "I always forget about this… So sexy." she murmured. "Is that why you got it? You think tattoos are hot, Butch? Should I get a coffee cup on my hip? Maybe a little heart on my back?"

"I got the tattoo because I was eighteen and stupid. You're smarter than me. Leave your skin be."

"You like me pure?'

"You're far from pure, Gilmore." Luke murmured. "I like you just like this."

"Take me upstairs."


	52. Chapter 52

"Say goodbye to Lorelai Gilmore," Lorelai whispered to Luke as they snuggled on the back porch of the Dragonfly Inn after their wedding rehearsal. "Next time you see me, I'll be moments away from being Mrs. Lorelai Danes."

"Gilmore-Danes. You're hyphenating, aren't you?"

"I still haven't decided to be honest. I want to be Mrs. Danes, for sure, but all of my professional stuff, and stuff for the Dragonfly, is under Gilmore, so I'll probably use both names. Plus, I'm really proud of the Gilmore name. I know my relationship with my parents isn't the greatest, but it's a good name."

"You did a lot of really amazing things with the Gilmore name."

"Hardly."

"You ran an inn, you're about to open your own business, you raised a beautiful young woman, and you became completely independent at the age of sixteen. That's pretty impressive to me."

"Yes, well, you're required to be impressed by everything I do and my sheer existence."

"You make it pretty easy."

"Alright you lovebirds, wrap it up." Sookie said, stepping onto the porch. "I sent Rory home a while ago. Lorelai, I'm driving you home so I know you won't take off for the diner in the middle of the night."

"Sookie, I could just as easily walk to the diner. I walk to the diner most days." Lorelai pointed out. "Besides, I was the one who suggested this. It's tradition. The bride and the groom don't see each other before the wedding. We're probably cheating being together right now." Lorelai smiled, giving Luke a kiss before standing up. "I'm ready to go whenever you are, Sook."

"Hey, wait. I'm not done with her yet." Luke protested, reaching for Lorelai's hand, and Sookie smiled.

"Just send her out to the car. If she's not there in twenty I'm sending out a search party," Sookie teased before she gave them back the privacy of the porch.

"Not done with me yet?" Lorelai smirked, and Luke pulled her back into his lap.

"Nowhere near done, but I'll have to be quick." He smirked as he pressed his lips against hers fiercely: if this was his last chance to kiss Lorelai Gilmore, he was going to make the best of it.

"You still going to like kissing me when we're married?" Lorelai asked, a little breathless.

"I'm going to like it even more when we're married." he assured her before kissing her again. "Next time I kiss you you'll be my wife."

"Never really liked the word wife so much until I heard you say it." Lorelai mused.

"Can't wait to say it… my wife. It's a good phrase."

"One of my favorites, as it turns out."

"You should get going before I carry you back to the apartment myself."

"You're probably right."

"Don't know how I'm going to sleep without you next to me tonight."

"I'll miss you too, handsome boy." Lorelai said, placing her hand on the side of his face. He put his hand on top of hers and pulled it towards his lips so he could kiss her palm.

"I'll see you in… fourteen and a half hours." Lorelai said to him, checking her watch.

"Don't keep me waiting."

"I wouldn't dream of it."

She leaned forward to give him one more kiss before making a quick getaway to Sookie's car, not trusting herself to linger, knowing she'd find her way back to Luke and never make it home. She opened the car door and plopped into the passenger's seat.

"You know, Sook, you can go home to Jackson tonight. Just because I'm sleeping without Luke doesn't mean you should be away from your husband.

"I'm staying, at least for a few hours. We'll watch movies and eat junk food. It'll be our last hurrah."

"Isn't the bachelorette party supposed to be the last hurrah?"

"Yes, but you wimped out on that early." Sookie reminded her.

"I went to four bars, Sookie. Four. That was three more than I wanted to go to."

Sookie opened her mouth to respond but all that came out was a gasp. The car had taken a sharp turn to the left, and Sookie struggled to regain control. The car only stopped when the passenger side collided with a tree. The window shattered and the car finally settled to a stop, and both women took stock of the situation.

"Are you okay?" They asked each other at the same time.

"I'm okay." Sookie said. "Are you? Lorelai, you're bleeding."

Lorelai looked at her arm: Sookie was right, glass was embedded into her shoulder and her upper arm.

"I'm okay."

"Lorelai-"

"Sookie, I'm okay. We probably need to go to the hospital, but I'm okay. "

"Okay. Hospital. Let's go to the hospital."

"Sook, this car probably isn't safe to drive."

"Oh, you're right. I'll call Jackson."

"Rory. Rory's home alone. I should call Luke, I don't want her home alone when it's this late."

"Okay, I'm going to look at the car." Sookie said, stepping out from her side. Lorelai pulled her cell phone out of her purse and dialed the number for Luke's apartment.

"Hey. Miss me already?" He teased as he picked up the phone.

"Luke, don't freak out."

"Why? What's wrong? Are you okay?" He asked, immediately freaking out.

"I'm fine. Okay? I'm fine. I'm fine. I want you to keep that in mind as I tell you the rest of what I'm going to tell you."

"Lorelai," Luke practically begged.

"Sookie and I got into a little accident. We are both fine. Did you hear that last part? I know your brain went into overdrive after the first part but the second is equally important."

"What happened? What's little? Where are you? I'm coming to get you."

"We spun out and hit a tree, and we're fine, Luke. We're both fine. There's some glass in my shoulder, so I'm just going to go to the hospital-"

"You're bleeding?"

"Luke, I'm fine." Lorelai said, beginning to feel like a broken record.

"Lorelai, are you bleeding?" Luke asked intensely.

"Yes." Lorelai answered, not wanting to lie even though she knew he was overreacting.

"Tell me where you are. I'm coming to get you and then we'll go to the hospital."

"Oh no, mister. It's 12:18 in the morning. It is officially our wedding day, and you aren't seeing me until I walk down that aisle."

"Lorelai, I quite frankly don't give a damn about tradition right now. You're my fiance and you're hurt and I'm taking you to the hospital myself to make sure you get there safe."

"Jackson is driving us to the hospital. I will call you when I get there and when I leave. Right now, I need you to go to the house and check on Rory. She's probably asleep by now but I don't want her in the house by herself."

"Lorelai-"

"Luke. Go check on our baby please. I love you, I am totally fine, I will call you when I'm leaving the hospital, but I absolutely will not see you until tomorrow afternoon when I'm walking down the aisle, okay?"

"You're a lot of work."

"Luke."

"You sure it's just your arm? You didn't hit your head? You're breathing okay? Your lung is still healing, and every time you get a concussion, the next one comes easier."

"Luke, I'm only going to say this one more time, so I really need you to hear it. I am fine. I'm fine. I'm going to go to the hospital, have the glass pulled out of me, they'll sew me back together and then tomorrow I'm going to marry you. Okay?"

"Okay."

"I love you, diner-man."

"I love you, crazy lady."


	53. Chapter 53

Lorelai woke up on the morning of her wedding decidedly calm. Well, she panicked at first, noticing the expanse of empty bed next to her and not remembering a good morning kiss, but once she remembered why she was alone, she was decidedly calm. She rolled over to read the alarm clock stationed on her nightstand, and saw that it was only 7:30. Early, but she still decided to get out of bed, knowing she'd never get back to sleep now. She tiptoed down the stairs, not wanting to wake Rory, and started a pot of coffee. She puttered around the kitchen while it brewed, making herself a few pieces of toast before pulling one of her favorite mugs out of the cabinet. She sat at the kitchen table, going over the schedule of the day her daughter had drawn up weeks ago as she drank her coffee and ate her toast. After a little while, Rory stumbled out of the kitchen, clearly drawn to the smell of the coffee, the etchings of a good night's sleep still written on her exhausted face.

"Mom, you're up." Rory said, surprised.

"So are you," Lorelai pointed out.

"Yeah, well, I just thought-"

"Who did you think made the coffee?"

"Just wasn't thinking, I guess."

"Drink," she said, extending her coffee mug to her daughter.

"I'll get my own, thanks." Rory smiled. "I'm surprised you didn't wake me."

"Didn't really see the point. Our hair appointments aren't until ten."

"Oh, well, I know, I guess I'm just surprised you didn't jump onto my bed at six this morning singing about going to the chapel."

"Gonna get married," Lorelai sang, smiling and putting down her coffee mug so she could show off some truly impressive jazz hands.

"So you're excited?"

"Of course I'm excited."

"Thank God. No running. Luke and I couldn't take it."

"No running."

"Good." Rory smiled.

"It's too bad a blue ball cap wouldn't go with the dress. We could skip these hair appointments."

"Well, you could put one of Luke's flannels on over the top of the dress." Rory teased.

"I think Luke would be mad if I made him get all dressed up and then showed up in pajamas."

"Not to mention, Luke's gonna fall over when he sees you in the dress."

"I hope not. I'll accept a smile, and even some manly tears but there will be no medical emergencies at my wedding ceremony. My brief stint at the hospital is as close as anyone in this house is getting to that place for a very long time."

"Okay, if my tire blows out and I need stitches I'll just bleed out." Rory teased her mother.

"Don't be mean to Mommy today."

"Never ever. Are you feeling okay?"

"A little sore, but nothing the adrenaline rush of a wedding can't fix."

"Good. Take some advil and finish your breakfast so we can work on getting you pretty."

* * *

Several hours later, Lorelai had been primped, preened, and prettied on every square inch of visible skin. She gave herself a once-over in the mirror, feeling satisfied. She'd gone for a pretty natural look with her makeup, knowing Luke would prefer seeing her freckles shine through a more fresh face than he'd prefer something that looked painted on. She fidgeted with the short lace sleeve-strap on her shoulder; it did a pretty good job of covering her stitches, and Lorelai had supplemented the area with makeup. The dress was altered and luckily still fit perfectly, her hair was down in big, loose curls, the way she knew Luke liked it. Everything was perfect. She was distracted from her reverie when there was a knock on the door of the small changing room.

"Everything okay in there?" She heard Sookie ask her, although it sounded a million miles away.

"Everything's perfect."

"You gonna let us take a look at you or are you hiding out?"

"Oh, sorry, sorry." Lorelai said, coming out of the dressing room to see Sookie and Rory standing with her parents.

"Lorelai, you look lovely." Richard said, smiling brightly and not bothering to hide the tear that was threatening to escape.

"Thank you, daddy." She said, choking up a little herself.

"Now, now, none of that yet. You don't want to be red-eyed and puffy when Luke sees you." Emily said. "You look beautiful, Lorelai. But no crying. I've got to go take my seat, I'll see you out there I suppose."

"Yes, mom." Lorelai laughed, recognizing her mother's tone from cotillions past.

"Mom, I've got to go in a few minutes. Almost showtime. Sookie's waiting in the hall with Jackson."

"Okay. Make sure Jess doesn't let you trip on the way out." Lorelai said, referring to Luke's nephew who had come into town with his mother for Luke's wedding.

"Wouldn't dream of it. Mom, I'm so, so happy for you. You deserve this."

"Which part of it?" Lorelai teased her daughter.

"I've got to go. Remember, you can't get all red and puffy." Rory teased as she dashed out.

"I guess that just leaves the two of us, then." Lorelai said, giving her father a watery smile.

"I guess it does."

"Have you seen Luke?"

"You think he's going to run?" her father teased.

"No, it's just weird. Feels like the longest stretch of time we've spent apart in a long time."

"I have seen him, he isn't running, and he's even more anxious to see you than you are to see him." Richard answered.

"Well, let's go then," she smiled, standing up from the small couch in her bridal suite.

"No, let him sweat a little while longer. I've got something for you."

"If it's anything like the note you got from your mother on your wedding day, I don't want it."

"No, it's nothing like that. It is from Trix, however," Richard said as he pulled a jewelry box out from the interior pocket of his tuxedo.

"Oh, dad." Lorelai said.

"The past five generations of Gilmore women have worn this on their wedding day. Of course, I have no sisters, so it skipped a generation, but Trix wanted to make sure it got into the right hands. Or onto the right wrist, as it were." He continued, opening the box to reveal a delicate diamond cuff bracelet.

"Daddy," Lorelai said softly.

"Now, I would be remiss not to inform you that this will have to serve as your something borrowed, as someday it will belong to Rory."

"Someday far far far far away from now." Lorelai giggled as her father slipped the bracelet onto her wrist.

"There. Now, you're ready to get married."

"Now, I'm ready to get married." Lorelai smiled.

"Let's go knock 'em dead."


	54. Chapter 54

In comparison to his fiance, Luke was a relatively calm person. Sure, he got aggravated and went on rants that rivaled Taylor's impassioned speeches at town meetings, but he was relatively level-headed, cool, and collected. Today was the exception. His heart was pounding, he couldn't stand still, and he was practically jumping out of his skin any time someone bumped into him. He sat down and poured himself a scotch while Jess and Jackson went out to have their pictures with Lorelai and the bridal party. He sunk into a chair, trying to calm his nerves as he nursed the drink, when Jess and Jackson came back in.

"Did you see her?" Luke asked, standing up from his chair.

"They're all accounted for." Jess quipped as he entered.

"She looks incredible, man. Wait till you see her." Jackson told Luke.

"Not much more waiting, it's time for us to head out there." Jess piped up again, checking his pockets for the rings as he made his way towards the door.

"Now, huh?" Luke said.

"Yep. Now's the time. Last chance to run." Jackson said with a grin.

"Not running. No chance in hell." He said firmly.

"Figured as much. You're going to have to stop pacing once we get out there, though, so why don't you go a few laps and get it out of your system." Jess advised his uncle.

"I'm good," Luke shook his head. "It's out of my system. Jess, you ready?"

"Got the rings, so I think I'm good to go."

"No funny business with Rory." He said sternly.

"She's my cousin." Jess said, making a face.

"You remember that."

"Is the stress of the day getting to your head? Because I think you're talking crazy." Jess prodded, although he understood his uncle's concern.

"It might be. Let's go before I make a fool out of myself."

"You mean let's go give you an opportunity to make a fool of yourself in front of a crowd?" Jackson teased.

"Exactly what I mean. Let's go." Luke said, not wanting to delay the moment any longer.

He followed the men out the door and a hushed silence fell over the congregation of people who had come to the ceremony. Not a moment too soon, the music started, and Luke looked up, seeing Sookie come down the aisle. He peered at Jackson, who was beaming, and then smiled to himself. The waiting was over. Or, at least, almost over. Rory followed soon after Sookie, and Luke smiled at the girl who was looking more like her mother every day. His breath caught a little as he thought about the little girl who had politely followed her walking-tornado of a mother into his diner over five years ago. That little girl was gone, and a grown woman, his daughter, stood in her place. As she ascended the small steps, the crowd stood and turned, and Luke craned his neck to try and catch a glimpse of Lorelai.

"Try not to pass out when you see her." Jackson teased.

Jackson had meant the warning as a joke, but Luke felt his knees buckle a little as Lorelai rounding the corner. Every possible word to express his emotions at the moment left his brain momentarily as he took in the sight of her: The crispness of her dark curls against the piercingly white lace that covered her skin. Her fresh face, and those striking blue eyes she was hiding behind long, full lashes. Radiant. She was radiant. That was the best word he could think of, but it still wasn't enough. All too quickly but never soon enough, Lorelai and Richard had reached the end of the aisle and Richard was extending his hand for Luke to shake. Luke snapped back to reality, shaking Richard's hand quickly and then taking Lorelai's hands in his as Richard stepped away.

"You look…God, Lorelai. You look-"

"Shh. Let's get married so you can kiss me."

"You shouldn't have reminded me. Now it's all I can think about."

"Well then I guess we should get this over with."

"No, not over with. But, let's get it started at least." They looked over at Reverend Skinner, and he took it as his sign to begin.

"Friends, family, and children of God, we've come here today to watch Luke and Lorelai commit themselves to each other in matrimony, in the presence of their Heavenly Father. We are gathered here to celebrate the love between Luke and Lorelai, a love so strong they have decided to join together in marriage for as long as they both shall live. Their marriage today is just a reaffirmation of the love they already share with one another. From this day forward, there will be no Luke without Lorelai, no Lorelai without Luke. They are bonding their souls, and their lives, from this moment forward. The bride and groom have prepared their own vows."

Luke cleared his throat, daring not to look at his audience before he spoke. "Lorelai, everyone in this room knows I was a goner the day that I met you." He began, winning a chuckle from the audience. "I don't need to tell you how much I love you, because you know, and so does everyone else in this town. That doesn't mean I don't plan on proving it to you, today and every day for the rest of our days. It's no secret that I wasn't always the most fun person to be around before I met you. I'm still not the most fun, but I've gotten a bit better. Lighter, when you're around. Lorelai, I look at my life before I met you and it just seems so different, so much less than what it is now. It's like my life isn't even real to me unless you're there, and you're in it, and I'm sharing it with you. You know, I haven't had to share anything for almost two decades, but it's a lot better than I remember it. Lorelai, I just like to see you happy. I want to spend the rest of my life as the man who makes you happy."

"Luke, compared to you I am very much a "go-with-the-flow" kind of girl. A lot of people think that about me, but you've seen the crazy, and you know better. You know that all of my life has been about choices I've made. The choice to raise a daughter the world told me I wasn't ready for. The choice to leave home at sixteen. Those are some big choices. And I made smaller choices too. The choice to get on a bus out of Hartford, instead of emptying my savings account and trying to escape to someplace warm. The choice to get off at the Stars Hollow stop, march into the Independence Inn and demand a job, despite the fact that I had no working papers, no resume, and no skills. The choice to walk into a building that I thought might be a hardware store or maybe a diner and demand a cup of coffee. Luke, those are all my choices, but you are my Choice, capital "C." The big one. I choose you. In a hundred lifetimes, in a hundred worlds, in any different reality, I choose you. Today, tomorrow, and everyday, I choose you."

"Does the best man have the rings?" Archie asked, and Jess stepped forward, handing the rings over.

"Luke, repeat after me. With this ring, I thee wed."

Luke had held strong when she walked down the aisle. He had managed not to shed a tear during his vows or hers. He had almost made it. But he looked into her eyes as he slipped the gold band onto her finger, and he was a goner. "With this ring, I thee wed." He managed to choke out.

Hearing the way his words warbled in his throat caused tears to spring into Lorelai's eyes as well, and she chuckled, whispering to him. "We almost made it. Glad I sprung for the waterproof stuff."

"Lorelai, repeat after me." Archie said again. "With this ring, I thee wed."

"With this ring, I thee wed," she managed to repeat, though her voice was trembling.

"By the power vested in me by the state of Connecticut, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Luke, you may kiss your bride."

"My bride," he whispered as he pulled her in close, not giving her a second to respond before he crushed his lips against hers.


	55. Chapter 55

Lorelai took Luke's arm and set off at a brisk pace down the aisle. He simply laughed and lengthened his strides to catch up with her. They ducked into the lobby of the inn, and Luke looked at her, confused.

"Where are you taking me?"

"My office." She said, opening the door and pulling him in.

"Hey, that arm is attached. Trying to keep it that way."

"No, you don't get to be grumpy today." She warned him.

"Lorelai, what are we doing in here?" He asked.

"Just give me a minute, okay? Once we get out there it's going to be all about dances and cake and speeches, and when they all leave it's going to be about jumping your bones, because you look hot as anything in that tux and I'm more in love with you right now than I ever thought a person could be, and right now I just want a minute to be Married Luke and Lorelai. Can we just take a minute?" She asked, her big blue eyes begging him to say yes.

With only a moment of hesitation, he crushed his lips against hers.

"All of them," He whispered in between kisses.

"What?" She asked, breathless.

"All of my minutes. They're all yours. Take as many as you'd like. They're all yours."

"We've got four minutes before our absence is noticed."

"We got married, Lorelai." Luke said reverently.

"I was there."

"You're stuck with me now. Think you can handle the grumpy?"

"Can you handle the crazy? And the smaller crazy?' She giggled, and he smiled before kissing her again.

"I need the crazy. I love the crazy. Can't get enough of the crazy. Both crazies."

"We need to get out there before we do something crazy."

"I'm not ready to share you yet." Luke growled.

"Luke, I have to work in this office every day, and every time I come in here I'm going to think about us making out. We need to leave before I lose my ability to do any work in here at all."

"I guess my investment would go to waste if you had to shut down."

"Yes, and it would all be your own fault. Come on, the photographer's waiting for us."

* * *

After a few loops through the reception area, dinner, and dancing, Rory brought a fork to her glass and the room fell silent.

"Hi everyone. I'm pretty sure all of you already know me, but just in case you don't, I'm Lorelai's daughter and maid of honor, Rory Gilmore. I'm also Luke's daughter, but that's a story for another time." She explained, receiving a hearty laugh from her audience. "So, I'm Luke's daughter, but I was Lorelai's daughter first, and I'm the head of her bridal party, and as you all know it's my duty as the maid of honor to embarrass my mom fully with some sort of drunken speech. I guess my mom didn't realize that was in the job description before she asked her 16-year-old-daughter if she was up to the task." She explained, earning another, louder laugh. "Because both of my parents are here tonight, and I am wildly underage, I opted out of going the 'drunk-and-embarrasing' route. But the job is to give a speech, and I'll give a damn good speech. Or, at least, I'll try." Rory explained further. "For most of my childhood, my mom was everything to me. I met Lane Kim, my best friend, in the first grade, but before that, it was just me and Mom. Or, it was me and Mom. I shouldn't say 'just,' because my mom was all I ever needed and more. Of course, as an infant, a toddler, and then a young child, I doubt I was really the same kind of person for her. You don't always admire the baby who's screaming keeps you up all night. As I got older, I tried to be that person for my mom, but I can't, because my mom will always try and protect me from everything, even if that means being sad or hurt herself. We had Sookie, too, but that was different, because Mom was my life partner, and Sookie couldn't be that for mom, just like I couldn't be. And I knew just as well as all of you do that my mom didn't really need anyone. She was strong, she kicked ass, and she could handle anything. She didn't need someone, but that doesn't mean she didn't deserve someone. Someone to pick up the slack. Someone to make her coffee in the morning, someone to wait for the cable guy. No, my mom held onto all the slack, and she waited for the cable guy. And then we met Luke. And well, he was already so good at making coffee." She said garnering yet another laugh. "But really, Luke has always been there for us. He's picked up the slack wherever mom's pride would let him. He makes a damn good cup of coffee, and I bet he'd wait for the cable guy if we asked nicely enough. My speech isn't about Luke, but I don't need to explain to anyone in this room just how good a man he is. I look at him, and I think 'that's exactly who my mom deserves.' Luke is someone special Someone good for me and my mom. And so while neither my life nor my mom's has been free of difficulty, I wouldn't change any of it, because in the end we got Luke, a man who is special, and good for us. Congrats, Mom and Dad." Rory finished, extending her small glass of soda and inviting the crowd to cheer with her. Rory made her way back to her seat as the guests clinked their glasses.

"Way to get the waterworks going, kiddo. I don't think there's a person here who isn't crying," Lorelai sniffled as her daughter took her seat beside her.

"What about you, dad?" Rory asked, leaning over the table to see him.

"Just happy to be someone."

 _ **A/N:**_ _Ah, endings are so bittersweet! Thank you so much to everyone who read this story, and especially those of you who faithfully reviewed each chapter. This story is done but I have some more Luke/Lorelai fics on the horizon, stay tuned!_


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